


STAR WARS: EPISODE X - The Chosen One

by Danitsia



Series: Star Wars - Episode X: The Chosen One [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A New Hope Spoilers, Atonement - Freeform, Baby Dameron's, Baby Solo's, Ben & Finn Are Friends, Ben Solo - Freeform, Ben Solo Lives, Ben Solo is a Mess, Bounty Hunters, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Developmental Attachment Deficit Disorder, Dyad in the force, Empire Strikes Back Spoilers, Expanded Dyad Powers, Expanded Force Powers, First Order Remnants, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Forgiveness, Implied/Referenced Torture, Legends references, Mental Health Issues, Multi, New Friendships Form, New Supreme Leader, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prince Ben Solo, Psychological Trauma, Redeemed Ben Solo, Redemption, Return of the Jedi Spoilers, Revenge of the Sith Spoilers, Rey Solo, Rey is a Mess (Star Wars), Reylo - Freeform, Senator Ben Solo, Star Wars: A New Hope - Freeform, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Freeform, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - Freeform, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Freeform, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - Freeform, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Freeform, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers, Star Wars: the Clone Wars - Freeform, The Clone Wars Spoilers, The Force Awaken Spoilers, The Jedi Come Out of Hiding, The Last Jedi Spoilers, The Phantom Menace Spoilers, There is More of Us, Zorii Bliss is a Mess, Zorii Dameron, ben and rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:55:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 100,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danitsia/pseuds/Danitsia
Summary: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....The Emperor is dead!  The Jedi live!Ben Solo has returned from the Dark Side to find himself with a choice.He has chosen to give his life for Rey... to return her to the galaxy.What he didn't count on was Rey needing him to help her navigate it all.The thought of her being the last Jedi was far too much, too lonely, and too heart-wrenching.The Jedi of days long gone band together to give Rey a precious gift.The Resistance faces the complete collapse of power across the galaxy and they must learn to rebuild.The Republic was wiped out, but democracy is needed more now than ever.Anakin Skywalker vows to show the Dyad what they can truly accomplish with the help of the Jedi that have come before them.The Chosen One figures out what that means exactly in guiding his grandson and his beloved down the right path as Grey Jedi, bringing BALANCE to the Force.
Relationships: Cal Kestis & Merrin, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rose Tico / W'rith Ba'al (New Character), Zorii Bliss/Poe Dameron
Series: Star Wars - Episode X: The Chosen One [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986847
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	1. Table of Contents

**Author's Note:**

> \- Contains MAJOR spoilers to all EPISODE 1 through 9 Trilogy Movies by LucasFilms, LTD and Disney™.  
> \- Canon-Compliant with a sprinkle of Legends-Compliant content.  
> \- Force Bond (aka Force Skype Calls) are in bold and italics.  
> \- Alien languages are spoken and translated in between brackets { } and italicized.  
> \- Spaceships that are given proper names are in italics with the first letter capitalized.  
> \- Contains content that speaks to implied or referenced torture, acts of violence, thievery, nudity, sexual situations, mental health, and uses mature language.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the table of contents that includes everything I've written so far. I do have an editing process and there are illustrations being developed for each of the chapters that will also be featured [on my website](https://mariaespino.com/star-wars-episode-x-the-chosen-one/) that get talked about and designed and then actually drawn. If there is a link to a chapter, that means the chapter is edited and available for reading. If a chapter doesn't yet have a link, that means there is a rough draft of the chapter and we're working on editing.

**TABLE OF CONTENTS**

#  [1 The Aftermath](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/66948529)

## Rey

## Don’t

## Not Quite Dead, Not Quite Alive

## Kylo

## Tatooine

## Old Fashion Healing

## Celebrations and Explanations

#  [2 New Emotions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/67349938)

## First Night

## Rise and Shine

## Back on Crait

## Secure the Perimeter

## A Visitor

#  [3 Rebellion Reborn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/67642277)

## General Dameron

## General Finn

## Maz Kanata

## Call to the Senate

## In Short Supply

## Regrets

#  [4 Return to the Light](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/68283802)

## The Falcon

## Home Unsteady

## Awkward

## Confessions

## Honest Communications

#  [5 Heart of the Matter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/69079191)

## In the Shadows

## The Upturn

## Bad News, Good News

## Freedom Might Be Free

## Some Decisions to Make

## Han and Leia

#  [6 Galactic Repercussions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/69472365)

## Hutt Space

## Bilbousa Saloon

## A Way In

## Information is Key

## Ponta Hideout

## Saving What We Love

## Dark and Light

#  [7 Going Dark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/72648912)

## Daalang Rendezvous

## Tracking Jedi

## Planet Killers

## Incoming

## Gone Fishing

## Maz and Ben

#  [8 The Forest Has Eyes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/73240644)

## First Date

## Hidden in the Trees

## Healing Zorii

## A Fractured Mind

## The Spice Crew

## Dr. Harter Kalonia

#  [9 Ready, Set, Heist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27214519/chapters/73447404)

## Chewbacca

## Leave It to Rose

## Rarified Cracking

## Jedi in Hiding

## Back on Tatooine

## There’s More of Us

## Under Surveillance

# 10 On The Hunt

## A New Approach

## Preparing for Departure

## Shades of Love

## Canto Bight, Again

## W’rith Ba’al

## Crucival

## Nightmares

# 11 The Resistance Expands

## We Have Options

## Cut Through a Mountain

## Hanger 83

## Checking In

## Privacy Please

## Force Ghosts in the Wind

## It’s In Our Nature

# 12 The Sins of the Past

## Dyad Unleashed

## The General’s Quarters

## Sacred Texts

## On the Way

## Early Risers

## A Jedi Reunion

# 13 A New Order

## A Dyad in the Force

## Hidden Sith Powers

## A New Order

## Clearing a Path

## Looming Threat

## Plans Backfire

# 14 Making Decisions

## Rendezvous

## Convincing Commanders

## Laying Out the Plan

## Weighing the Options

# 15 A Means to an End

## Dismissed

## A Frank Conversation

## Going Over the Plan

## Jedi Training

## A Walk on the Dark Side

# 16 Solidifying the Plan

## Padawan Training

## The Allure of Greatness

## The Pontas Arrive

## It Can’t Be

## Enough for Today

## A Rose with a Thorn

## A Proposition

* Additional chapters coming soon!


	2. Chapter 1: The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
>  **SYNOPSIS**   
>  _   
>  _This chapter takes place at the end of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. We will revisit that amazing last scene of Ben Solo and Rey in Palpatine’s throne room on Exegol. That fateful day where Ben Solo would give his life for his mirror, his dyad, his soulmate. Except in this story, she saves him right back with a little help from the Jedi of days long gone._
> 
> _The Force Ghosts of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker fight the remaining few Sith Eternal to protect Rey and Ben, giving them the chance to escape. Ben is badly injured, still returning from the netherworld of the Force, and Rey’s life energy is spent; she cannot heal him. He suggests for them to go to Tatooine, Luke’s old homestead there._
> 
> _The Resistance may not welcome Kylo Ren with open arms. Finn learns everything, in detail, that has happened to Rey over the course of their friendship when it comes to Kylo Ren._

## Rey

Exegol was set ablaze; ash, soot, and the stench of death littered the air. Rey looked around for Ben, desperately wanting to look at his face. She felt the cold. The pain. Letting go of Luke and Leia’s lightsabers, they careen to the ground and life leaves her. She drops. 

Ben had landed on a sharp outcrop of stone from the pit that Sidious had tossed him into. He had summoned just enough of the Force to stop the fall, but he had bounced off the edge on the way down and broken a few ribs and an ankle. He jolted awake at the rumbling and sheer force which he instinctively knew to be her. Rey. He started to climb up… barely able to breathe through the pain at his side. One hand at a time, slowly. He tried to summon the Force again, but no luck. He would have to do this the old way. And he had to reach her. 

As she dropped to the floor, lifeless, Ben felt it as did Finn who had just gotten back to the _Falcon_ with Jannah. Gasping for air, Ben hurried his pace. One hand over the last edge, it took all he had to pull himself over it. He saw her. It sparked an adrenaline rush in him to get to her. Rey. The pain in him from his injuries proved to be too much for one moment, he dropped to the floor. But something stronger was willing him forward, love. Had he really come all this way to find it, just to lose it? To his feet, he quickly came and pushed forward closer and closer to her. Rey. He didn’t feel the bond, the dyad; two that are one. And when he reached her, he knew why.

Ben slowly, gently pulled her to him placing her on his lap. Her head dangled in his grasp. He looked around as if desperately looking for someone to help him. He could barely contain this pain. Not the physical pain, that he could deal with, but this emotional fire ripping through his bleeding heart could not be extinguished. He held her tightly, finally getting the embrace he had longed for, but not at all how he expected it. He sat there for a moment, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t breathe. It was then that he made the decision to give her whatever he had left in him. It would be his parting gift to the Galaxy, to return her to them. He knew it. It would kill him. He slowed his breath placing a hand over the center of her, flooding her with his lifeforce. Whatever was left of him, he poured into her. And Ben Solo would achieve what his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, could not.

He felt her chest expand and her body regain its warmth and then… her hand took his. Like he had always wanted. She blinked as if waking up from a deep slumber, to find him looking at her. He couldn’t contain his emotion now as he felt the bond re-establish, that all-powerful thread that pulled them to each other. She sat up. She didn’t pull away, and to him, that was all he had ever wanted his entire life. Acceptance, compassion, unconditional love, and dare he think it… forgiveness. She looked deeply into his beautiful eyes, that to her were so full of light. There was no darkness at this moment.

“Ben.” She whispered to him and smiled. Reaching for his face, locked onto his gaze. Through their bond, they didn’t even have to say a word. They could communicate this way. And she hoped they would forever. She caressed his cheek, and a rush of emotion overcame her, she leaned into him and kissed him fully, lovingly. Full of hope. And when they parted only slightly to return to their gaze, he smiled at her. The first true smile she had ever seen on his face. And then she felt it, the bond that had so quickly entwined was… breaking again. She strained her face; he could only just look at her. He felt the cold now reaching out its fingers to take him away from her. His smile disappeared. He was content just looking at her in his arms, tasting her lips. If death would come now, he’d die reveling in her beauty. But he saw her face strain, and then the darkness set in. He dropped. She was still holding his hand. And the last thing he saw was their hands interlocked together.

## Don’t

Rey held on to his hand for dear life. “Please don’t let this be!” She thought. “I’ve come all this way… no.” Sheer panic ensued in every fiber of her being. Their bond had severed. The absolute horror of it all was rushing in like a hurricane. As the Force came to claim him, she held on so tightly, but it was in vain. The Force had deemed him worthy, but she was not ready. As the panic settled in her at what she was witnessing, she let out a curdling scream, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Finn felt her again; not that he hadn’t wanted to, but not like this; she was in desperate pain. The entire Galaxy could probably hear her. The Jedi of days long gone could probably hear her. And that they did. 

## Not Quite Dead, Not Quite Alive

“Rey.” A voice unknown to her, fatherly. She had heard it just minutes before. And then Luke’s voice, “Rey. We’re here with you.” Leia was next, “We’re here, Rey.” The first voice again, “Channel us through you, we will return him to you. This dyad is the prophecy. Not just my grandson; not just you; not just my son; not just my daughter… this. One. Balance.” Anakin Skywalker she immediately knew. “You both are the hope of the galaxy, Rey. This is the last step to unlocking your true power, take it,” another male voice, older, gentle; it was Master Obi-wan Kenobi. “Gone, he is not,” a weird alien voice chimed in full of wisdom and age, that of Grand Master Yoda. And another. And another. They all came --- Yoda, Obi-wan, Mace, Luke, Leia, Qui-Gon, Ahsoka, and others all channeling this power into her. She didn’t dare move, looking at the clothes that once covered her soulmate. The very depth of her soul. 

“Come back to me, Ben.” She whispered. “Ben. Ben.” Her voice getting louder and louder. She felt evil crawling towards them, the remnants of the Sith Eternal coming for her; her time was running out. She let out another scream, “BEN! Don’t leave me, please!” The words spoken to her from the Jedi that now surrounded her became almost rhythmic in nature, she could feel their power funneling into her like raging waters across the sea amidst a storm. She felt herself open up to the power the Jedi were giving her and closed her eyes. Suddenly the evil lurking stopped… they didn’t know what they were witnessing, but to them, or anyone else there, she was glowing a bright light. Then she felt it.

His hand was back in her own, she dared to open her eyes. And when she looked down, his eyes flickered to her. “Wha…,” he barely was able to whisper. Her heart soared with joy at the sight of him. What exactly had just happened? Did she just pull him back from the Force itself? He tried to sit up, but barely could and when his eyes looked at her she still had a lingering glow to her. “BEN!” she threw her arms around him. The lurking Sith now hurrying their steps. If they were going to perish, they were taking both with them to the depths of hell with them. Ben immediately sensed it. His breath was ragged, and every part of his body hurt. 

He looked up to see the Jedi that had helped Rey, his eyes locked onto Anakin. He could now see them all. Anakin walked towards them, calling his legendary lightsaber to him, just as Luke called Leia’s lightsaber to his own hand. They ignited them together and dropped into fight stance. All the Jedi, all of them circled around the pair as Leia bent down to touch her son’s face. “Ben, my darling. This is who you were meant to be all along. You were just needing your other half to bring you balance, and I failed to see it, I am so sorry,” she whispered and smiled caressing his face. She looked to Rey, “You’re more powerful than you know, Rey. Hold him tight to you, use the Force to teleport both of you to Luke’s X-wing and fly out of here. Hold him tight, picture the ship where you landed it, let the Force do the rest.” Leia stood up to join her father and brother, and the rest of the Jedi. With a hurried breath, Rey looked at Ben, “Ready?” He stopped, “Wait, mom,” he looked at Leia, unable to hold back the tears, “I am sorry.” She smiled. “We’ll see each other again, now and always.” 

Anakin and Luke engaged in combat with the weary Sith Eternal, who looked on in absolute astonishment at the power of the Light. Luke looked almost happy to be fighting alongside his father, something he never got to do in life. Anakin took one look back at his grandson, “Ben, love is the greatest power. It saved me, it saved her, it has saved you.” Ben looked back to see the sheer beauty that was his grandfather in fighting form. Anakin was unlike anything he had ever seen before, it was magical to watch him, his uncle Luke, his mother Leia, and all the Jedi fight for them. Rey asked again, “No idea how I am going to do this, but ready?” He turned to look at her, nodding once. She gripped onto him tightly and began to slow her breathing closing her eyes, picturing Luke’s old, battered craft in her mind where she had left it. She had never done this before, and certainly never done this with another person. But she _had_ to succeed. She breathed in one last breath.

The rush of it made her stumble and Ben fell to his knees, but he was breathing at least. She helped him up, wrapping his arm around her neck and hoisting him up by his waist. She accidentally touched the part of his side that had taken the brunt of Palpatine’s Force throw on the rocky ledge, “Ahhh,” he winced, biting the side of his cheek. She adjusted her hold on him, “Sorry.” She had felt his pain on her own side. She helped him climb into the back of the X-Wing, every inch of him hurt. “I don’t see how we both will fit, Rey.” He said to her almost in a whisper. “Well, we didn’t just live through all of this for me to leave you here, Ben. Anakin. He told me,” she helped him squeeze into the back as she pulled her chair forward, “we are the dyad prophesied, we are the hope.” Ben's lips parted slightly; it had not occurred to him before that this is what the Force is always seeking out. Balance. They truly were two halves of one whole. 

## Kylo

As Rey pushed the folded part of the captain’s chair back, she paused for a moment to look around at the wreckage that was her grandfather’s army. Her friends had triumphed in bringing the edges of the galaxy together to fight this army, and the battleships were falling one by one. She hopped into her chair and she felt something in her seat. When she reached down, she instantly knew…. The Skywalker Lightsabers. Returned to the dyad that would bring balance to the Force; she dared to smile. She took them, flicking on all the switches of this old fighter with one hand and passing them one at a time back to Ben. “Are you okay?” she asked. “As good as I can be. I am with you,” he replied. They had a rough take off as the planet under them shook and bled fire. But they managed to get through the magnetic atmosphere to hit space. He was thankful for Rey’s piloting skills; they rivaled his own. 

Just then, comms came through, it was Finn, “Rey! Rey! You’re alive! Wow… follow us out, Lando is on the _Falcon_ with Chewie, they are emitting the navigation beacon. Woooooo! I cannot believe you’re alive. I could have sworn, I ---” Finn stopped short. “Rey we won! We beat the Emperor and Ren and all of it.” She quickly responded, “W--- I’ll follow the _Falcon_ out. Over and out.” Ben could feel her newfound distress. She had not thought long enough about how to explain she was bringing a guest back to the make-shift Resistance Camp in nearby Crait; hidden away in the mountains. Rey’s thoughts were running rampant in her mind, what would she say? How would she explain all of this? Poe was not going to be kind. Finn may understand. But it’s not like she really had a home of her own to run to for a while. What could she do?

Ben sighed. “You don’t have to do this, Rey. I could find a way somewhere for myself.” She shook that thought as fast as the words fell from his lips. “Where you go, I go.” She made it a statement. It was not up for debate. “If not with them, where Ben? Tell me and I’ll go,” she said gently. They had just gone through the worst the worlds could throw at them. She had no intention of leaving him, especially after the Jedi told them they still have work to do, together. The galaxy wouldn’t stay safe without both of them in it, and in it together. They were stronger together. 

“Tatooine,” he mentioned, “my family’s homestead.” She smiled and thought, yes that’s perfect. But what would she say to them? Would she tell them? How? She couldn’t think. She turned on the comms, “Black Leader, come in.” She waited, “Rey! Yeah… you okay? That old hunk of metal made it! I can’t imagine it’s in the best of conditions. Is it flight worthy?” Poe asked over comms. “It's fine, Poe. I need to make a stop in Tatooine. Rendezvous at camp in a day?” She waited again. After a long pause, “Rey, are you sure you’re okay?” Poe asked again. “Yes, kriff, I just need a moment to myself. I have Luke and Leia’s sabers and there is something I need to do with them,” she stated with purpose. That should be enough. He’d know, right? “Yeah… okay. 24 hours. Crait camp. Black Leader over and out.” She switched comms off. Ben sighed, “You didn’t have to tell them where we were going, Rey.” Rey thought about that and said, “Yes, I did. They are my family. I cannot lie to them, not even about this,” she said. Ben never had to contend with family, at least not since he was 12. He never had to answer to anyone except Snoke.

As they went into hyperspace, a silence befell them. For a moment, she could sense Ben dozing off trying to find some rest for the wreckage that was his body. She still couldn’t believe it. She had literally pulled him back from the Force. The bond between them was that strong. He had saved her, and she had saved him. Her mind couldn’t help but be filled with questions. Questions about her friends and the Resistance, questions about her newfound power, questions about them together being the dyad that had been prophesized for thousands of years. There was a weight in that. But for now, she was worried about Ben’s injuries. She knew she was not strong enough to heal him as she had on Kef Bir. She was pretty battle-worn herself. They both needed rest. But Ben was right, Finn, sensing what she was sure he hadn’t wanted to convey over comms, would come looking for her in Tatooine. She needed a plan.

## Tatooine

They arrived at Tatooine. Luke still held the deed to the land, so it remained as it had for so long and it showed. When she landed, it stirred Ben awake. He quickly stretched out a hand to the Anakin lightsaber that laid next to his mother’s and it responded by snapping to his hand. This took a minute for him to absorb. He looked up, met her gaze. “It’s okay. We’re here,” she said gently to him. She helped him out of the cramped space he had stuffed himself into. She once again draped his arm over her neck, and this time a bit more carefully wrapped her other arm around his waist, low enough to not make them both screech in pain. She made her way to the door, but it was blocked waist high with sand that had gone undisturbed for decades. She needed to find another way in, so she sat him down in the hot sand. “Wait here,” she said. “Right here,” he quipped pointing to the spot where he sat. She gave him a sly smile. His heart lit up at the sight of her face glistening under the bright suns of Tatooine. She crawled down to see if there was another door through on the inside of the courtyard. She found one, locked, no doubt by Luke himself. She tried to use the Force to pry it open, it wouldn’t budge. She just had very little left in her. So, she climbed back up and before she could say anything, Ben was trying to get up by himself. She rushed to help him, and before she could ask, “Let’s try together,” he said.

With the brunt of his injuries, getting him down there was a challenge, but they somehow made it. She could tell that he was badly hurt, and his focus was sporadic and unstable. She wasn’t sure this would work. If it didn’t, then what? Breathing erratically, Ben took a breath as much as it hurt and summoned as much of the Force as he possibly could. Rey joined him and together the door came apart. Ben dropped to his knees. Rey rushed to his side, “Thank you,” she whispered. She once again helped him up and walked him inside. Everything looked like it had stood still in time. Emotions suddenly rushed her. Ben felt it, as he took a dusty seat by the dining table. Tears just rolled down her cheeks now and she wasn’t afraid to let Ben see it all, see her. He looked at her. Her thoughts flooding his mind. He felt it all. In this private moment, she felt safe enough to let go. She dropped to her knees, sobbing. Gripping her head in her hands. He couldn’t help but feel the sting of his own tears threatening to drop from the corner of his eyes. What she felt now was grief. 

The loss of a family that she had barely known but had loved. A part of him felt dreadful guilt at all he had done. And when she caught his thoughts in her own mind, she cleared her hands to look at him. A tear dropped from his right eye where the scar she had once put on his face had disappeared. She couldn’t muster the strength to stand up, so she shimmied on her knees to where he was, dropping her head on his lap. He couldn’t help but run his hand through her bloodied, soot-filled hair. Gently. Letting her feel what she needed to feel in that moment. Star-crossed lovers, facing a reality. Han, Luke, now Leia… were gone. He knew that they had been her family as much as they had been his. He unknowingly had shared them with her. 

The weight of it all felt heavy on his shoulders, and he let out a muffled sob. The tears didn’t stop. She finally looked up and willed herself onto his lap, surprising him fully. She hugged him tightly. This gesture of kindness, love, sharing was foreign to him, but he savored it. He hugged her back. “I thought I lost you,” she whispered through the sobs. “I thought I lost you,” he retorted. She pulled back and stared at him, lifting her fingers to his cheeks, wiping away some dirt, blood, and tears. She leaned in and kissed him again, and this time she let the worlds fall away from them both. He kissed her back with all the light he now felt in them both. She felt it too, and the dark. The dark came with the light; they knew that now.

Their lips parted just enough, “You came for me,” she whispered through the tears with a small smile on her face. “I would die for you,” Ben told her. He kissed her again, almost forgetting all the pain he felt in just about every part of him, except his heart. For once.

## Old Fashioned Healing

After a little while, Rey knew she had to do something about how badly hurt he was. She stood up. Looked around, this place was unfamiliar to her. To Ben, in contrast, this once had been home. “Check the kitchen, back and to the left,” he instructed her. She found the kitchen and looked all over, the place was filled with dust and sand everywhere. She found a small bag in a cabinet with some supplies and next to it an old broken-down Jedi training bot. She smiled thinking about Luke. When she got back to the dining area, she sat with one leg on each side of the bench next to Ben. “Let me see,” she said as she motioned for his shirt to come off as she wiped her tears away. Suddenly her cheeks turned a bright flush of pink thinking of the time they had a Force bond connection in Ahch-To when he had appeared without his shirt to her. He had caught wind of her thoughts and his own cheeks flustered; the exhilaration he had felt then, he felt now, but different. He couldn’t take the shirt off on his own, so she had to help him. As she did so, their eyes locked. That bond had been like a rubber band, they could never pull away from each other entirely without a feverish need to snap back. Was this that? Just the bond? No, she thought to herself, this is… “…something else,” he finished for her. “Okay, ground rules,” she retorted a bit annoyed at the sudden lack of privacy in all things. “Some thoughts I’d like to keep to myself, yes?” She was serious. “That will be hard to do, Rey,” Ben stated matter-of-factly. She exhaled sharply, looking him over a bit nervously. The heat wasn’t just coming from the suns of Tatooine.

A thought overcame her, and she tried very hard to block him from it. Had he been with other women? She certainly had never even thought about anyone. Rey had grown up in Jakku, isolated completely from anyone. All these feelings were brand new to her. “No,” he answered. He felt compelled to answer her on that front. “No time for that,” Ben said looking sheepishly down. She had stopped what she was doing, and it frustrated her that he wasn’t even trying at this point to keep out of her mind. She softened; she knew he had felt that infuriation too. “Sorry, this is hard for me too. I am not used to ---,” he searched for the word. “Restraint,” she found the word for him as she continued to clean his wounds up. He nodded in agreement, flicking his eyes in her direction. She continued to clean him up. “This is going to hurt us,” Rey said breathing in deeply. He was surprised that the word “us” fell so easily from her lips. She proceeded to try to clean off his right flank. She knew the ribs were broken underneath so she ever so gently wiped the blood, dirt, crushed stone from the area. She felt almost all of it herself, so much so that sweat started to engulf her face. She wiped at her brow. He didn’t hide the pain from her either. He had donned a mask for too long and he longed to be completely free of it. With her, at least.

“I’ll clean up a bedroom quickly,” she said as she finished with the chest area, moving on to his arm and shoulder that had also hit the stone when Palpatine thrust him down. “Then we can rest, after I am better, I can heal this,” she said. He nodded, “Or maybe I can, as well now? I think.” She replied, “No, I think we should let you rest up all the way before testing anymore of that.” She stood up to look for something she could wrap his arm with. She found some old cloth, tearing it into pieces, she made a makeshift arm sling for him. Her eyes would often drift to catch his eyes looking at her. Her cheeks would show the slightest shade of pink almost every time. He enjoyed it more than he cared to admit. The corners of her mouth turned upward ever so slightly, “Are we having fun yet?” “Yes,” he answered giving her a smile. Oh, how she loved to see him genuinely smile. “Let’s see the legs, or ankle is it?” She quizzed. He nodded slightly, and through a shy grin he asked, “You aren’t going to ask me to remove the pants, are you?” At that she went completely red, a sharp squeal escaping her mouth, “Nooooo!” She stood up and threw the pieces of ragged old cloth at him, jokingly.

She managed to look at him, “I have to go, Ben.” “It was only a joke,” he retorted but he knew she was serious. “You make a good point, if I was Finn and Finn was me, I’d come here right away,” she said. At this point, the thought of leaving him like this was ripping her apart, and she could feel that he felt the same. “I will return to you as soon as I can. And I’ll bring food, fresh clothes, bedding, supplies… whatever I can grab for the both of us,” she looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes. He searched her mind, but she was getting better at blocking him. “Even if I never see you again, Rey. It was worth it, all of it.” She grimaced, almost like he had insulted her. “If you think that after all of this, I will not come back, you’ve lost your mind, Ben. I have finally found where I belong, and I am never letting go despite your many efforts to make me _‘let go’_. Not now, not ever,” she meant it. She let him feel it. He nodded and admitted, “Letting go is hard.” She shot him a slight smile remember how often he had pleaded with her to let go.

She helped him to the back bedrooms, she wanted to lead him into one of the bigger rooms, but he didn’t want to go near it. She thought that it must have been Luke’s room. She felt the shame in him. So, they went into one of the smaller rooms. It still had some toys in it, which had been his apparently. He stood at the frame of the door, looking around. His eyes threatening to rain down again. “He came to us, not just me, Ben, us, they all did,” she said. And at her words, the tears made their way out of his eyes. She didn’t look at him to let him have his moment in this, his old room at his family’s home. She felt that for him, this place was far more the home to him than his mother’s fancier house in old Chandrila, and it was clear that Luke had made room for him. He was loved here. And is loved now. She muddled around the room, clearing stuff, shaking the dust from old things. She waited until she sensed he was ready. She turned around and helped him to the bed, sitting him down gently. “Something must be done about this ankle,” she said and dropped to the floor, “let me wrap it at least.” She knew taking the boots off would hurt, hurt them both. 

She didn’t understand why everything was that much more intense between them, she figured it may have been something to do with him returning to the Light. They were two threads of the same spool, she thought to herself. She was as gentle as possible, and it still hurt like hell. She waited, then began to wrap his ankle. Broken, she thought. Wow, he had endured so much to save her. She took a seat at his side in the bed. “Thank you, Rey,” he said to her. She smiled and stood up. She had to leave. She didn’t want to but had to. The Resistance would treat him as a war criminal, and she couldn’t lose him again. Not now, not ever. “Not ever,” Ben said. An exasperated sigh let out of her, “You really have to try harder. Boundaries! We need those,” she flashed him a sly grin and turned to leave. If she didn’t leave now, she would never. She heard him yell out to her playfully, “You’ll have to practice blocking me out.” If his body was broken, at least his spirits weren’t.

## Celebrations and Explanations

Rey got into the beat-up old X-Wing and started her up, with a roar it came to life. She looked at the horizon of the two suns blaring down on the soft sand that surrounds this place. She couldn’t help but think of the desert sands she grew up in, Jakku. That wasn’t home, never really had been, and she couldn’t quite say the Lars Homestead was her home either. But she knew what was, she whispered it, “Ben.” She took to the skies and when she entered space, engaged her hyperspace to get to Crait. As the stars created streaks of light in hyperspace, she thought about Ben. Hoping he’s alright. Ben answered, **_“I am fine, do not worry. It will all be fine.”_ **The Force bond between them could traverse as far as they had ever been. The dyad worked in mysterious ways that were unknown to any Force-users. Her first thought was, he’s not practicing restraint. She spoke to him, **_“Restraint.”_** A conversation through the Force bond began.

Ben said softly, “ ** _I am in too much pain to really focus on restraint, Rey.”_** Rey answered him, **_“I am sorry, I feel it too. But even then we have to establish some boundaries.”_** She was serious about that. Ben acknowledges, **_“Your voice soothes it all. Marvelous wonder.”_** He smiled. Rey responded changing the subject, **_“I don’t know what will happen in Crait.”_** She felt his smile, which was now wiped away by her words. Ben teased, **_“I don’t suppose telling them you’re shacking up with Kylo Ren will go over well.”_** He tried to lighten the mood. Rey replied more solemnly, **_“No, it certainly won’t. Do you know that Finn is a Force-sensitive?”_** Again, trying to change the subject. Ben answered her, providing some more insight, **_“Yes, from the village in Jakku; his first battle.”_** He recalled feeling the Force amongst them that day, and when he turned to look at it, he caught FN-2187 looking back at him. It’s a day he’d rather forget. Rey felt a bit of sadness in him, **_“So, you know he may take our side. Maybe. Hopefully.”_** At least she was hopeful. Ben replied, **_“Doubtful.”_** Rey tried to convey that hopefulness, **_“Well he is a former Stormtrooper. If anyone can relate, it's Finn.”_** She bit her lower lip. Ben replied, **_“A tiny bit different than a former Supreme Leader. But I guess I was also a slave of sorts.”_** His gaze dropped to his left hand that rested on his lap; the other hand in the make-shift sling Rey had concocted for him. Rey would reassure him, **_“You were.”_** He had been a slave to Snoke and her grandfather Sidious. A long moment of silence would pass between them before Ben would whisper her name, feeling the utter exhaustion from the events that had come to pass, ** _“Rey.”_** Rey answered him with a question, **_“Yes?”_** Ben’s mouth formed a faint smile thinking of her, ** _“It was all worth it.”_** Rey smiled back, **_“Yes. It is.”_** Silence befell their dyad as they absorbed those events. 

After a few minutes, the X-Wing fell out of hyperspace. Rey gave him one last thought as she crossed the space threshold of Crait, **_“Ben, where you go, I go.”_** Ben felt the sincerity of her words. **_“We’ll see.”_** Rey hit the atmosphere with a jolt. This X-Wing wasn’t going to last much longer. When she landed, BB-8 was waiting for her, happy to see her. She bent down to check his antennae and rub his sides. Happy beeps, she thought. Then her immediate thoughts went to finding Finn and Poe, and all her friends. Many of them had perished in this war, on Exegol and before that. She wondered how many of them she would not see. The thoughts passed to Ben, who felt the pang of guilt in his soul. She knew he was different.

As she caught sight of Poe and Finn, they, in turn, caught sight of her. They burst into tears together, wrapping their arms around each other. “We did it, Rey! We beat Ren, we beat Palpatine, the First Order, all of it,” Finn exclaimed with pure joy. At this Rey made extra effort to block Ben from the feelings that she was seeing and experiencing only managing a reassuring word, “Yes, Finn.” Tears streamed down their faces. Poe pulled back from the lingering hug just enough to say, “Leia would be so proud!” Rey’s heart beamed at that because she knew it to be true. She was proud of us all, but most especially of Ben. She thought that would be her way in, Leia. “Speaking of her, I need to talk to you both in private,” she looked at both Finn and Poe. Her face took a more serious look to it. Finn was first to respond, “Yeah, ummm where do you want to go?” She smiled slightly, “My tent, maybe?” Poe nodded and they followed her. They could tell something confounded her.

Rey liked to keep away from the main residential quarters inside the bigger base, she needed her own space. The tent was neatly organized, the bed was made, and there were texts opened that she had been studying before. She was nervous, so she started to fidget with her hands and fingers, then suddenly sat on her cot gripping the sides of it with her hands. Finn could feel something, but he wasn’t yet good at that feeling. Poe crossed his arms looking down at her. Rey tried to start, “I--- I don’t…” She stopped; her mind was racing. Finn started to pick up on something, and he thought it was the fact that he had felt her die back on Exegol. He thought he’d help her, “Exegol. You died. So, how are you alive?” He had assumed this was what she wanted to talk about. She looked up at him, she couldn’t help it and just blurted it out, “Ben Solo...” Rey trailed off and before she could speak again Poe interjected. Poe’s mouth dropped open, “You mean Kylo Ren?” Rey’s eyes hardened a bit, “No, Ben Solo,” she looked up at them, Finn got it. “You mean Kylo Ren,” Poe exclaimed. That would be the only way Poe Dameron would ever see Ben. Finn moved to take a seat next to her, he wanted to know more. She sensed a million questions forming in his mind.

Poe, tensed up, “He doesn’t deserve that name, Rey.” Finn shot him a sharp look before looking back to Rey, “Is he dead, Rey?” She bit her lip, wanting to answer but Poe would steal the air in the small tent, “One can only hope.” Ouch. That both infuriated and hurt her. “No, he’s with me, now what do you have to say?” she shot up to face Poe. Finn shooting up with her. “Well, then I expect you to turn him into our custody so he can face a tribunal,” Poe was not going to budge. Rey squinted her eyes and let out a low growl, “Absolutely not.” She would dig her heels in on that point. Poe’s reaction was the reaction of an entire Galaxy. To all of them, he was a war criminal. Finn piped up, “Wait…. Poe, we could hear her out first no?” Poe looked to him, clearly, the answer to that was no. He scoffed and turned on his heel to walk out. Rey’s face was dejected, she sat back down on the small cot, and tears fell down her cheeks. She could no longer keep the dyad at bay. **_“It will be okay. I am sorry, Rey,”_** she heard Ben tell her. Finn looked to her, sat on the ground across from her, crossed his legs, “Tell me everything, Rey. I need to know. I felt you die! The Force: it let me know you were gone. What I felt was excruciating and in my desperation, I thought why her?” Finn’s words stung her as her mind replayed that moment, the moment she came to in Ben’s arms, and then the moment she felt him go, their delicate bond severed.

She was overcome with emotion, and then in the presence of her best friend in the whole Galaxy, she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. Finn’s emotions rose in him. Feelings of hope, feelings of life, feelings of belonging, then finally feelings of pure emptiness. That’s how she felt at the very moment Ben died, “Awww, Rey!” He got up to sit by her again and hugged her, “I had no idea.” Rey continued to sob in his chest. She was only 20 years old; everything had completely hit her all at once. **_“I know,”_** Ben would tell her, his voice breaking. And he did because moments before his own death, he had felt that tether sever just the same as she had. He sat up in the small bed back on Tatooine, wiping tears away with the cloth of the arm sling.

Rey, after catching her breath, looked up to Finn and started with the day she first felt the Force Bond between herself and Kylo Ren. Ben was also listening to her words through their Force Bond. “Takodana. When it called to me, and I moved to touch it. The Skywalker saber,” she continued, “and it transported me. I saw Ben, as Kylo, and six others with him. I was there and they were all fighting another group, and it looked like one of them was going to attack me, run me through, and Ben stabbed him, saving me.” She looked up to Finn, tears still falling. Finn hugged her, “That was a long time ago, you never said anything to me about this.” Ben spoke to her, **_“Ah, so it was you.”_** “Yes,” Rey said out loud; had he also seen her? “I didn’t know who it had been until I saw him in the forest on Takodana and he took me to _Starkiller_ base,” Rey said. Ben clenched his jaw down, swallowing realizing that they had the same vision and to her, he had saved her only to take her from her friends; to pry her mind open for the sake of Snoke’s quest to find Luke Skywalker, **_“I betrayed you, even then.”_** Rey couldn’t help but say something back to him out loud again, “Ben, I felt the conflict in you, even then.” 

“Wait…. He can hear us?” Finn asked, his eyes filling with astonishment. “Yes, and no. He can hear me, just me,” Rey held nothing back from Finn now. **_“Just you,”_** Ben said. Finn sort of felt that power, at least in fractions of what they felt. Finn asked directly but in a lowered voice, “Rey, are you and him… you know? Like together? Together.” Finn made a face at her and raised an eyebrow. She looked up at him, with all the honesty that came so natural to her and tear-filled eyes, “I don’t know, but I do know that I never want to be apart from him.” Ben heard that and his heart started to beat out of his chest. He knew it was true, he wouldn’t want to live this life, a new life, without her. He was more than likely the most hated man in all the Galaxy, the loneliness alone would kill him. “What that means, I don’t know, Finn but I do know that I will be leaving here and returning to him,” her words hit Finn like a ton of bricks; he didn’t want her to leave. Finn at that moment realized, he just knew, what she felt for Kylo Ren was love. Pure. Raw. Complete. 

He tried to smile at her, “Then we have to make sure you can leave Crait without being followed or chased, then.” She smiled softly, “Poe will get over it. But the other thing I know Finn is that I love you and Poe, and Rose, and all of them too.” Finn nodded and hugged her. To him, she was like a little sister more now than she had ever been to him before. He is 4 years older than her. “Rey, I don’t know how we’re going to convince the Resistance that Kylo Ren is dead, but that Ben Solo lives,” Finn said to her. She sat up, pulling away from his hug, “Leia. The Resistance is Leia’s gift to the Galaxy. She stood for hope, for change, for love… it’s all here. And she loved her son so much, she gave up the last bit of life energy in her for him.” As the words hit him, Finn knew it was true. Leia had lingered after her death unlike the Jedi before her; everyone had seen it, even Poe.

Ben couldn’t hear anymore, he tried very hard to cut himself off. He still wasn’t ready to face it all, especially when it came to Han, Leia, and Luke. A memory flashed in him of his father on Kef Bir where he said very similar words to him, and they are both right. The Resistance is Leia’s legacy as was the Republic. He thought to tales of his grandmother at that moment, Padme. She too had fought for the Republic and gave her life for it. This was his lineage. Not just Vader or Han or Luke. He let himself smile at that. And then he felt her, he looked up. “My son,” Leia whispered to him. At the sight of her, full sobs came to him. He felt so ashamed and wrought with guilt, “Mom…” his voice cracking and her heartbreaking for her child. She rushed to him and hugged him. He could feel the Force in the room. He let himself hug her back, but to him, it felt like she was giving him too much privilege and he didn’t deserve it.

“Okay, so I need you to tell me every step,” Finn refocused Rey back to the truth of it all but her thoughts lingered, **_“Leia?”_** She reached out to Ben, but he couldn’t speak. Rey realized this was a private moment and she couldn’t expect to ask him to respect her boundaries if she didn’t do the same, she blocked it all and blinked up at Finn, “Rey?” He said. “Sorry, I was distracted,” she admitted. “Well first, I’ll ask, is he okay? Do you need a medic?” Finn asked. “I am not sure,” Rey answered. She settled into her cot next to Finn and proceeded to tell him everything. Everything she had felt for Kylo Ren, from the hatred and anger to the loneliness and sadness, the Force Bond conversations she had with him back on Ahch-To. How the connection between them had grown to the point that she had gone to him on Snoke’s ship because she knew he’d turn. She told him about Snoke’s throne room and how it had been Kylo Ren that killed Snoke to save her. About their fight against the Praetorian Guards, how they had fought together seamlessly, almost like a well-choreographed dance. She told him about how Ren had told her that they were a dyad in the Force, a power that was more like two that are one, back on Kijimi.

She told him that Ren had always told her the truth, about everything. That not even Luke had done that for her. She told him of their fateful battle on Kef Bir, one that Finn watched partially. She told him that she killed Kylo Ren at that moment, she knew it. And she had healed him like she had done the snake in Pasaana. That healing also had erased the scars on him. She told him that he came to Exegol to save her, told him that she did die when they took Palpatine down. And that Ben had used the same Force healing to give her every bit of life energy he had left, which hadn’t been much. She told him, “He resurrected me, at the expense of his own life.” She continued, telling Finn about the Jedi coming to her and channeling the Force into her, that this is how she managed to resurrect him. How the same Jedi had protected them both from the encroaching remnants of the Sith Eternal. She told him that she spoke to none other than Anakin Skywalker and that he had explained that this dyad, unseen for generations, was in fact the new chosen one to bring balance to the Force. She then took a deep breath as she looked at a very stunned Finn. 

She told him about her secret, that she is Palpatine’s granddaughter. “NO DRUKK!” Finn shouted, “How could you have not told me this, Rey? I mean that’s huge! Poe might lose it if we tell him.” Rey bit her lip, “I am hoping we never have to but if you think that would help Ben’s cause, then I’ll take your lead.” Finn looked at her, “What do you fear?” Tears threatened her eyes once again, “That you’ll outcast him when he needs us the most, that the Resistance will want to have him execu---,” She stopped. “We are not the savages that he would be used to, but I am not sure Poe will understand all of this, I mean he’s not…. you know?” He meant Force-sensitive. “But he has seen what I can do,” Rey retorted, “and I just got all of this, Ben’s had it all his life and has been properly trained and what we both have discovered is that a balance in the Force means knowing and understanding the Light and Dark sides but choosing to do good with them both.” That had been Anakin Skywalker’s words. “A balance,” she repeated the words to Finn. Finn went to stand up, it was dark outside now. “I will talk to him, okay?” He reassured her. 

“And again, I ask does Ben need a medic?” He asked, starting to take his leave. “He is hurt but I think I can heal him. Like Pasaana and Kef Bir. But I need to rest. I do know he’s in pain,” she said, and he could see the pain in her eyes over it. “Let me get someone to help, we won’t say anything. Someone that has never seen Kylo Ren before,” Finn offered. “No, Ben would not like that,” she knew bringing a stranger to his family’s homestead would make him uneasy. “But I will take some supplies, clothes, maybe some food,” Rey said to Finn. Finn nodded. “Anything you need.” He turned to leave, and she grabbed his arm and hugged him again, “Finn, thank you for understanding.” “This is a lot, Rey, things I do not quite understand myself, but somehow feel as well,” he admitted. He held her a moment, and continued, “I was a stormtrooper, Poe a spice runner… I’ll make him understand.” Finn separated from her and went towards the main tent to talk to Poe.

He asked him to let her go back to Tatooine, and that giving her a bit of time there with Ben Solo would be very helpful in healing the scars they both had. “I’ve already told Chewie to let her have the _Falcon_ and I had someone prepare some supplies, clothes, and food for her to take with her,” Finn told Poe as Poe paced with an incredulous look on his face. He kept shaking his head, “Finn, that’s Kylo Ren, how do you know he’s not controlling her to save his own skin?” Finn sighed, “Poe, I have something to tell you about me that may help explain how I know he wouldn’t hurt her.” Finn finally admitted to Poe that what he had wanted to tell Rey back in the sandpit in Pasaana was that he thought he was a “Force-sensitive.” Poe already knew this, so he didn’t even waver in his pacing. “And if I was a stormtrooper, there are more like me that were taken as children out there in the Galaxy, at least I think so,” Finn stated. “We are going to need all the help we can get to find them and then train those that want to become Force-users. This could turn the tide for the Resistance because as one war ends, there is one just waiting to begin,” Finn watched Poe come to a stop, “I am worried for her, Finn.” “And you think I am not? Of course, I worry, she’s one of my dearest friends, and you’re the other,” Finn stated as Poe turned to face him. 

“Fine, she can go. But we mustn’t tell anyone about this. I need to figure out how we can approach this because our ranks will want his head on a spit. They are not going to take the word of a Jedi that now seems to be fallen head over heels for her enemy,” Poe rubbed his hands down his face and back up again a few times. His head hurt. Finn spoke, “I think we should confide in the ones closest to us, Rose Zorii, Maz, and Chewie…” Poe held up a hand, “Not Chewie, Ren killed Solo right in front of you guys. That’s not going to be something he forgives easy.” Finn rubbed his chin, “Well, you may be right. But I’ve seen some flashes of Chewie’s thoughts, and deep down he loves the boy he knew to be Ben Solo.” Poe perked an eyebrow, “Tell me.” Finn stood up straight, putting his hands on his waist, “Well, Chewie fought with Leia and Han against the Empire, so he pretty much watched Ben Solo be born and grow up, and…” Poe finished his sentence, “… saw him turn.” Finn nodded, “It still hurts Chewie to this day.” Poe sighed with vigor, “Okay, Chewie too. But just them, no more. There will be people hunting Ren down if they learn he is still alive. Whatever is left of the First Order is bound to find a new Sith Lord and rise once again.”

The two men walked together towards the main gathering, where there was a large celebration happening. Finn parted ways with Poe to return to Rey, he told her what Poe had said, told her that he would ensure that she could take the _Falcon_ back, with full supplies. “BB-8? I need BB-8,” she said. The droid had become so much more to them all. “Fine. But encrypt your location,” Finn gave in. Rey wrapped her arms around him, “Tell Rose, Zorii, Chewie, Maz, all of them… I love them.” Finn nodded, “I’ll come to see you soon. Prepare Ben for that because you know that Poe will want to go.” Rey nodded into his chest and the two departed in separate directions.

“Come BB-8, let’s go home.” Rey motioned to a very happy little droid. And as she loaded all the supplies that Finn had gathered for her into the ship, she thought to herself, “Yes, he is my home.” Ben caught that, smiled, and answered her, **_“And you are my home.”_** The dyad was ever-present, like having an open comms unit permanently attached to their brains. It hadn’t been that intense before, but now that they were more balanced, it seems to have grown into something they both would have to practice to block out. It would be a journey, but one she was happy to take with him.


	3. Chapter 2: New Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _  
>  **SYNOPSIS**   
>  _   
>  _This chapter takes us through the dramatic ways in which someone like Ben Solo can rise from the ashes of his former self, Kylo Ren, to help the Resistance and reform the Republic his mother and grandmother fought so hard for._
> 
> _The twist is that he’s still very much Kylo Ren; the dark side is part of his nature, and trying to snuff it out did not work for the Skywalkers, did it? It only fueled him to seek out the Sith. Embracing it surely must go better with Rey at his side, his guiding light, right?_
> 
> _As for Rey, knowing she is a Palpatine, she can't deny the Dark side is part of her nature and there is only one person that can teach her the dark ways of the Force now. Just like he had told her when they first met, she needs a teacher, and Kylo Ren would be the teacher she had always needed._

## First Night

She landed back on Tatooine, having showered, and eaten some; she felt a bit more like herself. BB-8 rolled out of the _Falcon_ first. He knew that inside was the former Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, he gave Rey a few concerning beeps saying to her, “Is he hurt?” She nodded, “Yes, he is. Let’s tend to him.” The old dwelling sat on 40 acres of solid desert, not unlike Jakku. Built originally by Gredda and Lef Lars, it had been passed down for at least three generations before it came to the Skywalker family with the deaths of Owen and Beru Lars, who raised Luke as their own. The stormtroopers that had murdered the Lars also set fire to the entire dwelling, but Luke would later restore it, adding more touches to the property. The main living space was located underground, to shade it from the harsh twin suns’ pelting heat. Finding an old piece of metal semi-buried in the sand, she slid on it down the mountain of sands that had accumulated over the decades since there was last life in this home. Poor BB-8 wasn’t used to the heat that permeated from the hot sands of Tatooine. He went and rushed down ahead of her to take some shelter from the heat; he is made of metal after all and didn’t want to have a literal malfunction. It was shocking how much heat two suns could make on a world like this; it was near sunset. 

She made her way in; she knew Ben was sleeping and some of his visions flooded her more vividly than before now that they are in the same space. His visions were distorted fragments of the torture he had endured at the hands of Snoke over the last 15 years of his life. Her heart felt heavy for him, with him. In all her isolated existence on Jakku she had always had the hope that her family would return to keep her moving forward, but for Ben Solo, who’s heart had been all but stomped on by his uncle, the experience of the last few years had been entirely different than hers. She wanted to get to know his story, dive deep into the man she now saw in front of her as she opened the door ever so slightly to look in on him. BB-8 was trailing slowly and cautiously behind her, emitting a soft almost inaudible hum that to Ben was uncommon. He had never allowed droids to roam around freely in his quarters on the _Finalizer_ , _Steadfast_ , or the _Supremacy_. BB-8 gave her some questioning beeps in what would be considered a whisper for droids. He was keenly aware of her feelings for Kylo Ren, or Ben Solo as it was. They were stronger than ever.

She tried to creep up over to him, but he sprung up, hurting his shoulder again and calling Anakin’s lightsaber to his hand and lighting it. He stopped himself and retracted the blade almost as quickly as he had lit it. His eyes met hers, who stood as still as possible. “Oh Kriff!” he exclaimed, clutching his chest with his left hand, feeling the sting of pain in his shoulder and right arm. “Rey, by the Force, I am sorry,” he apologized. On any of the many Star Destroyers he had commanded, his quarters were strictly off-limits to everyone. If anyone would ever try to enter unannounced, they’d face harsh if not lethal retribution from Kylo Ren. But Ben Solo would have to reprogram himself to move through this next phase of his life. A life gifted to him by the Jedi he admired, and the love Rey offered him now. 

She extended her hand out to him, with nothing but love and kindness emanating from her. He took her hand in his, putting down the famous Skywalker lightsaber at his side. Their fingers intertwined as she sat on the edge of the bed by him, locking eyes with him. Her first words a whisper, “Home.” She looked down at their hands and she knew inside her heart that home was the exact thing she had always thought of where he was concerned. She had always wondered why he felt like “coming home” to her, a familiarity that she could not place. That opinion had NOT changed, if anything it had solidified. The energy that passed through their hands and their fingers found their place in each other’s hands was a symbol of it for both of them. It wasn’t visible, but they felt it.

Ben smiled, releasing some of the tension he had only felt moments before at the thought of anyone entering his room without his prior knowledge or approval; the remnants of Kylo Ren’s former life. He started to speak, slowly rubbing the top of her palm in his hand with his thumb, “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, looking into her eyes. In her eyes, he could see that no matter what, even from the first moment they had set eyes on each other, she had never been afraid of him. She had always seen more in him, even when he didn’t. “Something I guess you will have to get used to; my presence,” she said to him with a small smile. She just knew him. He relished in that fact and scooted over against the wall in his small single bed to make room for her. He knew she needed rest. The worry in her heart for him was evident in her eyes as she looked at him. Her presence was soothing to the pain he felt in his entire body from the events at Exegol. It was like the life energies of them both blended together seamlessly; two halves of one whole.

“Sleep Rey, you need the rest,” he implored her. She smiled and said, “I would love to sleep, Ben. I don’t really sleep well, normally, I toss and turn,” Ben would interrupt her, “I know.” And he did, it was the first thing he saw when he had interrogated her about the very same droid that was so casually in the room now. “I am just afraid I would hurt you further with all the commotion that is in my mind at the moment,” she clarified. As he looked up to meet her gaze and soft smile, he knew this was true. He nodded towards the spot he had made for her. Rey moved towards it, sitting next to him. Rey felt safe with him, now. A stark contrast to how they first met. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and it surprised him to feel no hesitation from her.

She was freshly showered and the way she smelled to him was intoxicating. Meanwhile, he was still in all his war-torn, death-touched, love-resurrected clothing that smelled god awful, he knew. But she could have cared less at that moment. She closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep. He would look at her, watch her breathe in and out, studying the curves of her face, her neckline, her soft skin, and how it felt under his touch. To him, at this moment it amazed him the way she trusted him now, relishing in the beauty and wonder of it. He equated this to watching stars being born. A rare privilege he knew Kylo Ren did not deserve but hoped that Ben Solo would one day feel worthy of witnessing every single night for the rest of his life. His heart could explode at any moment. He started to wander off into sleep himself, his body exhausted from the war that overshadowed his life for the majority of it. They fell into a deep sleep; one that neither of them had had in an awfully long time.

## Rise and Shine

In the wee hours of the morning, the light of the twin suns shone through the glass-domed ceiling. Ben’s arms had wrapped around her and she had buried her face into his chest. She had woken up first and had not wanted to move in case that hurt his injuries further. She delighted at this moment with him, eyes just staring at him; she felt complete. When he woke, he realized that she had been awake before him and had stayed wrapped in his arms. Such a small gift to him in this new morning. Then he tried to move, she went tumbling down the side of the bed. He quickly broke her fall with the Force, which she immediately felt was stronger than yesterday. She was also stronger. The rest had done their weary minds, souls, and bodies some good. 

She immediately felt that he was still in pain, his flank was severely bruised, and he didn’t move his ankle. She slid her feet under where he was holding her, getting up. She smiled at him, “Well, that’s convenient, isn’t it? Having someone to catch you,” she smirked at him, “do you have any idea how many times I woke up on the ground back in Jakku? It would have saved me a lot of bumps and bruises if you had been there to catch me,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed. He let out a small chuckle, “Only if I get up first, other than that I cannot make any promises.” She scooted a bit closer to him and she tucked her hair behind her ears as she asked, “May I try to heal you?” He responded with a quirked eyebrow, “I think you should rest more before we try any of that.” She sat back and made a face, “But you’re in pain, and what you feel, I feel. So, the answer is, ‘why yes, yes you may’.” He laughed, it hurt to do so but through the pain, he managed to say, “The power struggle continues.” She extended a hand to his core center as she winked, “Surrender to the light, Ben.” He put his own hand over hers, as she began to slow her breathing. She locked her eyes with his, and he couldn’t help but whisper, “Your eyes are so beautiful.” She sighed deeply, “I won’t be able to do this unless you stop talking.” He chuckled and said, “Okay. Okay, I’ll be quiet.” She found it hard to focus with her eyes open, so she had to close them entirely. He could simply not look away, she was mesmerizing. He felt every ounce of the Force Healing he was receiving, just like he had back on Kef Bir. It was like he was a dry sponge absorbing her life energy, he felt stronger with every breath she took.

She, all of the sudden felt dizzy, Ben immediately noticed. “Stop,” he said gently as he pulled her hand back. She had to stop before he was fully healed, she felt it draining all of her. As she did, everything went black. Ben caught her again, pulled her onto his lap, and was gently calling to her. “Rey,” he started to rub her cheek, “Rey… wake up, Rey.” In the darkness, Rey had a Force vision. It had been fragmented, but it was of her and Ben trying to escape the First Order in the _Falcon_. He caught a glimpse of it; “Rey!” he raised his voice now. She woke, sitting up trying to catch her breath. She looked at him, “Did you?” “Yes, I did,” he answered her. In her panic she asked, “Should we leave this place? Would they know about it?” she searched his face. “No one knows about this place, not for decades,” he said. He didn’t quite know what to make of it, the vision came in broken pieces to her mind. She shot up. “Let’s just go,” she exclaimed to him as she took a stumble in her anxiety-ridden state. He caught her yet again, “Rey, stay calm. Sit here. You need more rest. Let me go out there,” he looked to BB-8, “You, watch her.” She didn’t even have time to protest his commands before he had called the Skywalker saber to his hand, almost fully healed. He threw on his boots with no sign of a broken ankle, he looked at her, “It will be alright.” He left the room, ignited the lightsaber, and moved up the sand-covered courtyard with full use of the Force. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out, evoking his Force Sight. Using the Force to feel out anything that may be of concern to them. No Force-sensitives were nearby, he searched deeper, the Force guiding him through miles in each direction from where he stood. He opened his eyes, thinking quickly, he got back to Rey.

Rey stood up, he rushed to her just in case he needed to catch her again, “I am okay. I felt that. How did you do that?” She asked, knowing he knew a lot more than she ever did, looking at him. “You have a lot to learn Rey,” he told her continuing on, “but not every Force user has the same abilities.” She smiled, “Well it’s a good thing I have you to teach me, huh?” He smirked at her, “I may know a thing or two.” Underneath it all, Kylo Ren was probably the most powerful Force-user seconded only to Luke Skywalker, and he was letting his ego show. She redirected him to her original question, “Should we pack up and go?” He needed to think. “What we need is power,” he stated. He knew the Lars homestead had threat alarms and far-field scouting systems; the entire house had been updated by his uncle to provide a respite from the rest of the galaxy. But the house had no working water or solar power; that needed to be addressed. So, Ben feeling a sudden spur of energy from the Force Healing, jumped into action. He moved from where Rey was in his room and walked back towards the kitchen, walking past that towards a workroom.

“I guess we’re staying,” she shouted at him from the room feeling a bit calmer now. He walked back towards her, “Sorry, umm yeah, let’s get the perimeter secure and we’ll see.” She nodded once; she knew that they would have to work at communicating better. This new dynamic would take getting used to for two people that never had to answer to anyone else in their isolated upbringing. He stared at her, having heard her thoughts, rubbing a hand through his dirty hair, “Thank you, Rey.” He kept his stare on her, until she finally said, “You’re welcomed.” They stayed there, in the hall staring at each other in utter bewilderment of what was transpiring before them for a few minutes. They could see a different transformation in each other, through their dyad, and their feelings for each other. “I’ll get us something to eat,” she broke the silence. “We don’t have water either, I don’t think,” he said. “I’ll get some from the _Falcon_ , then,” she replied. “I’ll see about the moisture vaporators in the courtyard, see if I can get them working again,” he said to her. “Ben, I didn’t like those visions earlier.” He nodded, “I know, me neither, so security first then operations.” She agreed with a small smile, she was happy to see him with purpose, she could get used to that. Ben felt her happiness; he couldn’t help but think that for the first time, he had actually made someone happy. It was the smallest thing, yet it meant so much to someone who for a very long time had only known rejection, disappointment, and violence.

She made her way to the _Falcon_ to rummage through the supplies she got from Finn back on Crait. She got some food rations and filled a large jug of water from the ship’s drinking water conservator. She also grabbed some standard-issue Resistance clothing that he could change into. She walked back to the courtyard; she will have to dig the sand out of the front door. She caught sight of Ben in the kitchen with an old toolbox, digging through a box of solar batteries, “Those must be decades old, no?” She asked. “At least, but we need to try to juice just one to start up the rest of the solar panels,” Ben said as he inspected the latest battery, clearing off the dust. He quickly shot her a look only to realize she was carrying quite a load, he immediately stopped fiddling with the old battery to help her. “You shouldn’t be doing this much, Rey.” She quickly said, “I am not a damsel in distress, Ben.” With a playful tone to her voice, she let him take the jug of water and clothes off of her hands and placing both on the counter of the kitchen. He placed his hand on the small of her back and she suddenly felt a rush in the pit of her stomach. The bond feeling like static electricity traversing through their veins, leaning in he whispered in her ear, “I would have never guessed damsel nor distressed.” He chuckled. 

Rey’s eyes locked to his, cheeks turning redder by each passing second. He tucked a piece of her loose hair behind her ear, letting the back of his hand hang around against her cheek, he leaned in to kiss her softly, lingering his lips on hers before parting open again to bring her completely into his arms. She let out a soft sigh before letting his tongue enter her mouth, she had never felt anything like this in her whole life. This desire inside her rivaled the feeling she felt in Snoke’s throne room, aboard the Supremacy, when he asked her to join him. She had wanted to with all her heart that day, but he had also broken her heart. She reached around with her arms over his neck, he shifted his feet a bit, put his hands on her waist. He lifted her up off her feet, pulling her closer to him, the passion in him rising. She ran her hands over his dirty messy hair slightly damp from sweat. The fever of their kiss grew higher, their passions couldn’t be kept at bay now. Rey wrapped her legs around his waist as he hoisted her up onto the kitchen counter, lips still locked in unadulterated passion.

Everything was new to Rey, and to be frank, to Ben as well. It’s not like the Sith apprentice had ever thought about this part of his humanity; humanity he spent decades trying to kill. He was free, free from it all now, free to be forgiven, to be loved. His eyes betrayed him, as tears welled up in his eyes. She felt it and pulled away only slightly to look at him. Whispering, “Ben, it’s okay,” Rey said gently stroking his hair, and wiping away said tears, she kissed him again. Every time she did so, she became less of a girl and more a woman. In that brief moment, she would part from his lips long enough to push his forehead to hers, “I love you.” The words so quickly escaped her lips, she didn’t have time to even think about it. They stunned Ben still and he smiled wide, letting out a nervous chuckle he quipped, “Do you?” She looked at him, eyes glistening as the sun came drizzling through the roof of the kitchen they stood in, “You want me to repeat it?” she asked rhetorically pausing for only a moment, “of course you do.” He moved closer to her, closing any resemblance of distance, and said, “I haven’t heard those words since I was very young, so yes please.” He said to her, his eyes still teary-eyed, but his face was glowing with light. She took it in for a few seconds, “I love you.” She repeated much to his delight, “I love you, too.” He had never uttered those words to anyone other than his parents, maybe if he could remember; she gushed. 

She then diverted his attention to the food rations, continuing to talk about how badly he needs to wash off and change. She swung around to the other side of the counter and hopped off. He stood there; hands outstretched across the edge of the counter she was just on. When she looked at him, it felt like his whole body was smiling. She loved how he looked in that moment and simply could not picture ever leaving his side. She had willed him back from the Force. They prepared their food rations and ate breakfast.

## Back on Crait

“Did you tell her to contact us at O-800, Finn?” Poe asked Finn crossing his arms across his chest, something he would do when he was asking a question he already knew the answer to. Finn replied, “Yes, Poe. I did.” Poe scoffed, “You do realize it is 14 hundred now and she’s still not checked in with us?” Finn let out a deep sigh, “I know Poe, trust me okay. Let’s leave them alone for a few days, okay. Trust me on this,” Finn said to Poe giving him a look. “Ohhhh, oh by the Force, you don’t think?” Poe said suddenly very aware of what Finn meant, uncrossing his arms. “She knows we’re coming, right?” Poe said to Finn, then turned to yell at his squad mates, “Ready my ship!” He turned back to Finn, “Do I look like I care if I am disrupting something?” Poe turned on his heel and ran smack into Zorii, he tended to do that a lot, “For the love of all Jedi!” Zorii would scream and push Poe away, “Why??? Why is it that it always has to be you?” Poe shot back, “This is my hallway, you’re in the way!” Zorii rolled her eyes, looking to Finn, “Listen, Trooper, if you are going to go to Tatooine to talk to Rey, it's best you leave this doofus behind.” Poe exclaimed, “Hmph, I am a General, you do know that, right? As in General Dameron.” Zorii didn’t even look back to him, “He’s still standing there isn’t he?” Finn chuckled, trying not to erupt in laughter. Poe, “I am going.” Finn, “No you’re not, Poe.” Zorii shook her head and mumbled, “Kriff, he is stubborn…” Finn pushed forward towards Poe, “I think they need some time, Poe. What do you want me to do? Barge into their home and say, ‘Well hello there!’ I don’t think so.” Poe raised his voice a bit, “Why not? He’s Kylo Ren, Finn! We should be worried!” Zorii put a hand in between the two of them, smacking Poe in the nose, then Finn on the forehead, “Will the two of you ever shut up? Just let me go, she knows me but not enough to care what I may think,” Zorii offered the feuding generals. Finn and Poe knew Rey, “She cares,” they both said in unison to Zorii. “Anyways, I am going, and going alone,” she said, the fire in her always made Poe smirk. Finn sighed and said, “I’ll try to get the word out to her but approach them with caution.” Zorii nodded once to Finn and started towards her ship.

Zorii prepped her BTA-NR2 Y-Wing to head for Tatooine. Poe made an excuse to go check on Citizen’s Bay in the field which is where all the citizens that had helped them in Exegol had parked and settled in. Many of them were left with no home to return to, Zorii and her crew were some of the survivors from the planet of Kijimi, which was blown to smithereens by the First Order just days before the battle of Exegol. He casually walked around the Bay, talking to a few folks as he made his way closer to Zorii’s bay station. Zorii noticed Poe, “Fancy meeting you here, spice runner.” She grinned as Poe tried to act like he had not purposely come in her direction. The history between them went pretty deep. “Who me?” Poe asked. He was a terrible liar. Zorii chuckled as she started packing up her things under lock and key. “Anything you want me to keep in my office?” Poe asked her, offering a means for him to snoop through her stuff under the disguise of a higher level of security. “I still don’t trust you,” Zorii said and she continued to pack things up.

“What is your take on all of this?” Poe moved closer and lowered his voice. She replied in kind, “If the Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has really turned over a new leaf,” she whistled before continuing, “imagine the intel he would have. That alone is probable cause to at least hear them out. Besides, I don’t think she would just up and leave him, unlike someone I know,” Zorii of course still had feelings about his leaving Kijimi to join the Resistance. Poe sighed, “Zo’….” He was silenced with a hand to his face, “Don’t. Don’t even try it, Poe Dameron. All I know is I was with you, enough to do some unspeakable things, and then you left the crew a debt we still haven’t dug out of,” she turned around to continue her preparations to fly out to Tatooine, “If she finds love, real love, the kind you give up everything for, who are we to deny her?” She started to get into the cockpit of her Y-Wing. Poe, rushed up the ladder to the Y-Wing just before Zorii was deemed to close it, “Love was never the problem, Zorii… not for me,” Poe looked at her and before she put her helmet on, she grabbed him by the collar and planted a peck to his mouth quickly. Zorii was tired of hiding what she had always felt for Poe, as she had done for so long. She didn’t care if her crew was watching them now. She was of course still processing everything that happened, including the destruction of her planet. Poe was taken by surprise because it did feel like she was still mad at him, but he gave in to her as soon as he felt her lips on his. “Go, rebuild the Resistance, spice runner,” Zorii told him in a whisper. He replied, “That’s General Spice Runner to you, miss.” They locked eyes and she grinned at him, slapping her helmet on as he slowly lowered the lid. “Tell her, we love her, for me,” Poe said before closing the lid to her cockpit and giving it three taps. She gave him a thumbs-up before her ship came to life with a roar and she left. Poe watched her ship grow smaller and smaller. He knew they had a lot of unresolved issues to work through, but he was determined to see it through this time. He was no longer the snot-nosed kid that had fallen in love with a teenaged Zorii. Zorii looked back behind her at the planet that now housed everyone she loved before engaging hyperspace.

## Secure the Perimeter

After breakfast, Ben had kicked into full gear going out to see how he could get the water vaporators and solar panels going. The farm had included sixty-three GX-8 water vaporators throughout the property with two of those in the middle of the courtyard. Ben thought he could get those up and running with what he could find but he wouldn’t be sure they are working properly until the power was reestablished. So, fixing the solar panels had to take priority. Rey got to cleaning out the solar panels that had a layer of sand covering them for what seemed like decades. The dyad was ever-present, but they were both getting better at establishing some resemblance of boundaries, though admittedly this was harder for Ben. Rey was confident that by lunch she could finish all 16 of the solar panels. They knew time was against them, by noon the temperatures in Tatooine would hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Ben walked over to Rey, a battery in hand, “Want to try to juice up at least one of the solar panels again?” He asked her. She looked tired, and he noticed but didn’t say anything. She sighed and replied, “Yeah,” wiping her brow, “this heat is worse than Jakku.” He smiled Force jumping up to where she was. The ease of how he controlled the Force was inspiring to her. Inside, she wanted to learn to be that masterful and graceful with it. When he landed close, “You will,” he said. “Jakku only has one sun to contend with, Rey.” “Well, its bloody hot… I am drowning in sweat and I stink!” Rey was tired, he thought, “I think you should rest, let me handle this,” he said, looking at her. “No, it's fine,” she wiped her brow again. “Rey,” he took her hand in his, she didn’t flinch or deny him, “you weren’t fully recovered from this morning.” She smiled, bringing his hand up to her cheek, he caressed her cheek. “Let’s just get the power on,” she stated with a hint of exhaustion. He nodded and went back to hooking the battery up to the solar power console, “Let’s see if this will work,” he said as he started to flick on the power switches on the console, and with a roar the tower came to life, grinding and struggling to hold at first, but then falling to a well-known rhythm. “There we go, let’s hope this battery holds long enough,” Ben said, the suns would have to generate enough power to hold the system up before the battery gives out. 

“The cameras,” Rey exclaimed as she thought back to the morning’s Force visions. Ben nodded, “after we eat and rest.” She gave him a slight smile, “Alright.” He took her hand and pulled her to him, close. He Force Blinked to the door showing her that whatever she had learned he knew as well, still buried in sands. She stumbled, had this been what he felt when she did the same back on Exegol? “It does leave you a bit unsteady for a few,” Ben said to her as she used his frame to steady herself. “Were you able to do that before? With another?” she quizzed him. “Had never tried with another, not that anyone was ever this close to me,” Ben answered her. She looked up at him, and she felt the wind pick up. Ben was clearing the sand for them at the front door by using Force Winds. She watched. He turned to her, “Wait here.” She quickly retorted, “Right here.” Returning his same humor back to him from when they first landed here. He grinned, moving to go down into the courtyard and open the front door from inside. She was leaning on the frame of the door. As he opened the door, he noticed how drained she felt, he quickly scooped her up. She let him, she simply did not have the energy in her, “Ben,” she whispered before leaning into him as he carried her.

Ben moved quickly to his room, carrying Rey in his arms, he was concerned at just how weak she felt to him. He laid her on the bed gently, caressing her cheek, rubbing the top of her left hand which he held in his own, “Rey, you need to rest up, please.” She looked at him and whispered, “Ben?” He kissed her, and she didn’t have time to resist, not that she would want to. As he gently pulled away, he closed his eyes. Kissing her was like lighting his heart on fire. He had never felt that before. She lifted her index finger to his brow and slowly moved it down to his chin and up to trace his lips. He opened his eyes, “You need rest,” he pointed out again and started to pull away from her. “Ben,” she started because if she didn’t say it now, it felt as though she would drown, “Stay.” His lips parted open, a small gasp, he wanted to stay so desperately but she was weak. “Please, eat and rest.” She could tell he was a bit nervous at her request and frankly, she was as well as the thought of him actually staying. She didn’t know what she was feeling and why it was so strong. All these new emotions she had never had to navigate before. What she felt for Finn, for Poe, for her friends, was nothing compared to what she felt now, for Ben. He pulled away from her slowly, “I’ll get us something to eat from the _Falcon_.” She smiled, slowly letting his hand go.

Ben walked quickly towards the _Falcon_ , he stopped for a second to take it in. Han Solo’s ship. If anything felt like a second home to him it was this ship. He walked towards it and the ship, almost as if it recognized him, extended down its ramp. He realized it had been BB-8 that had done that as the droid was recharging inside the ship. He stepped into it, and a rush of emotions hit him like a ton of bricks. He let out a muffled cry, tears welling up in his eyes and soul. He sat down in the circular sofa he had sat down at a million times before. All the memories of his father teaching him to play chess, teaching him how to fix broken ship parts, teaching him how to fly… they all came rushing in like a thousand knives cutting through his very skin. He dropped his head into his hands and sobbed. After a little while, he raised his head and he looked at his hands, they were the same hands that killed his father. A voice came through to him, he recognized it right away. Anakin Skywalker.

“Kid, your father loved you, as I love you. As I loved my own son, my daughter --- your mother. I told you I’ll be with you always and I intend to keep that promise. You came from love Ben. My love for Padme, your grandmother, and your parents’ love for each other. It was clear, just as clear as it is to you now, with Rey,” Anakin walked to sit next to his grandson. Ben looked at him, tears streaking down his face, “I killed him with my own hands, grandfather. Losing him put the nail in the coffin for her,” he was speaking about his mother, “I know it. I felt it.” Anakin put a hand on his shoulder, “The guilt you feel, I have felt too. I was Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, the atrocities I committed for the Empire far exceed anything you have done, Ben. But what I learned, even as recent as a week ago, is that in trying to separate myself from the Dark Side, all I did was call it to me,” Anakin reflected. “The nightmares, the Force visions… all I could see was the dark side of everything.” Ben sniffled his sobs away hearing his grandfather’s words and he replied, “I am a monster.” Anakin sighed, “So am I. And yet, we can be loved. She loves you, son, just like your grandmother loved me. In that love, you must trust. She is your light, Ben. You are her dark. Together, this prophecy is fulfilled. Through your seed, you will build a new Order. One that doesn’t hide from their nature but embraces it and makes good choices. That is the final lesson of the Jedi, my child,” Anakin stood up, looking back to him, opening his arms to him, “Come.” Ben jumped up and ran to hug the man who’s shadow he had lived under all this time, and he felt it, felt the strongest Light from him at that moment. The two men hugged for a while before Anakin gave him one last word of encouragement, “Secure the perimeter, keep her safe, teach her, let her teach you,” Anakin said to him as he returned to the Force. Ben heard in whispers, “The dyad is everything you need.”

Ben returned to the homestead, some food in hand, and a gallon of fresh drinking water. As he walked in, he felt that she had fallen asleep. He let her sleep for a while before he made her a plate of rations and got a glass of water, he tipped toed into his room where Rey was sleeping. He tried to gently wake her, but she shot up, always on guard. She summoned Leia’s saber to her hand and ignited it, she swung at him, the plate of food and glass of water tossed aside. He used the Force to stop the saber from slicing through him, “Rey!” She screamed, “Ben! Oh… no, no... “she was in shock at her own actions, she dropped Leia’s saber on the floor, and he grabbed her, hugged her tight, “It's all right,” he said to her. “I--- I could have….” She was shaking, the horror of what might of happen shook her. “It’s a good thing, I am me, and you are you, then,” He cupped her tear-streaked face in his right hand, “I know you felt it and pulled back,” he smiled at her, “We have to trust that.” She whispered, “I don’t know how.” He kissed her lips softly, “I’ll teach you.” They locked eyes, and she knew… she knew he would teach her everything he knew. Knowledge would pass down from him to her without restriction, without fear. “Yes, and you’ll teach me, too,” he said to her. She looked at him, “What do I have to teach you? I am nobody.” Ben smiled at her and said, “Love, Rey, you’ll teach me to love and to accept love,” he stroked her cheek softly. “Now, let’s eat. I’ll make you some more.” He went to stand up, but she grabbed his hand once again, locking her fingers in between his. Her hand was strong, small in his own but strong. The feelings rushed in him, and in her.

She pulled him onto the bed with her, wrapping both of her arms around his neck, leaning into him, she kissed him fully. Her fingers wrapped around his hair now, he kissed her back. Her heart was beating out of her chest, as was his. She parted from him for a brief moment, she beckoned him to her as she adjusted herself on the bed, she was quite visibly shaking. The bond between them was set on fire, Ben whispered her name softly, “Rey,” she kissed him again, whispering, “I am yours, Ben.” He closed his eyes locking lips with her again, passionately, like something was overtaking him. He was nervous, but he couldn’t stop. She started to fumble at his shirt, loosening it. His breath grew stronger, deeper. His hands moved towards her waist. He felt how she shook under him, yet she pressed on. Every fiber of her being desired him. The Force connecting them now in ways no Sith or Jedi had ever felt in generations. His thoughts were jumbled, thinking he had never done this before and knowing she hadn’t either. The anxiety in him rose, fear, he was afraid. Afraid of hurting her, of disappointing her, of not being experienced in this. He chuckled nervously, she smiled wide at him, “I am right there with you.” He tried to catch his breath, he admitted, “I don’t know what I am doing.” She smiled at him reassuringly, “Neither do I,” she said slowly lifting his shirt over his head, she was still trembling, throwing it to the side. Her eyes wandered to his neck. She traced a finger where she last remembered the scar had been that she inflicted on him on Starkiller base nearly a year ago. As they locked eyes, they hid nothing from each other. He knew what she was thinking. How had she known to heal him on Kef Bir? She placed her hands on his shoulders, she gently squeezed feeling his muscles under her fingers, the desire burning in her. She looked at him, her heart skipped a beat. Breathing harder and faster, she kissed him deeply, his hands now moving to her belt slowly unfastening it. She didn’t mind that at all. She wanted this, and she knew the moment that it had happened, back in Ahch-To, the Force bond when they touched hands. They would be together, like this. From them a new generation of Jedi would rise, and they would lead it together. This was the future she had seen. She flooded those images to him now. His eyes widened at the images of their union, their children, grandchildren. For the longest time, he had felt like he didn’t deserve any of that. She would whisper, “You do.”

She moved to remove his pants, as he carefully removed her shirt and arm wraps. She had never been naked in front of another soul in the Galaxy, her cheeks flushed with a hint of embarrassment. He reassured her, “Rey, you’re beautiful in every way.” Her eyes teared up, no one had ever said that to her, and she never thought of herself that way. The last bit of shame left her, as she kissed him again. And again. Her hands running through his wild hair, which was still dirty from Exegol’s soot and dirt. Her passion couldn’t contain itself, she shimmied out of her pants. Bits of clothing flying away from them, as they continued to kiss feverishly. She now laid completely naked under him, who was now naked just the same. She pulled from him slowly, catching her breath, “Ben…” He whispered to her, “Rey…” She somehow flipped around on top of him, he let her. She sat up, showing him all of her. His eyes went everywhere, taking her all in. She leaned forward, kissing his neck, he reached up and untied her hair, letting it fall over them. She kissed him down his chest, interlocking her hands in his. She felt his manhood under her frame, her eyes widened. It was yearning for her. He released her one hand and slipped that free hand around her waist. His fingers directly on her skin, he sat up on the bed, as she leaned back spreading her legs around his waist. He gently grabbed the back of her neck and leaned in to kiss her. Both breathing hard, barely able to contain their new emotions. He leaned in again, and she pulled back. 

She smirked at him playfully and he chuckled nervously, “The power struggle continues,” he whispered through abated breaths. She giggled and his heart melted, she fell to his right side on to the bed, giving way to him, “You have won the war,” she said looking back at him with a shy smile, he turned over to face her running his hand up her bare hips to her bosom, her nipples responding to his touch. He gently covered her with his frame, she turned to meet his hungry eyes, her arms wrapping around his neck. Looking deeply into each other’s eyes, the nervousness of it all still very present, they kissed once again. Her legs opened up to him, it was instinct. She was trembling, so was he. He adjusted himself on her, his hand dropping down in between her thighs. He felt her as she moaned, whispering his name in his ear, “Ben,” she felt the tip of his manhood near her warmest place. His breaths couldn’t hold the air back, he started to slowly ease himself into her, not wanting to hurt her. She tensed a bit at the feel of him entering her. Her heart about to explode, she moaned. Her response to him quickened his desire. His desire escalating, if he could, he would devour her. He felt a bit of resistance inside her, but nature takes over as he deliberately pushes in deeper. How she felt to him took deep root in his thoughts now, soft… warm… his. His strong arms are wrapped around her, he comes to a full stop buried deep inside her. She moaned in his ear, “Ben…” She felt pain, and she didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to stop. 

They were joined together in the most primal of moments, his eyes rolled back, feeling the pain through their bond. He tried to catch his breath now to speak softly, “Are you okay?” She nodded a simple yes, her tongue caught in between pain and pleasure. A look of concern came to him, he pushed himself up a bit, just to be sure. She was crying. **_“It’s okay, don’t stop,”_** she managed to say to him through their Force bond. He continued, pulling her to him, hips to hips, moving in such a foreign, but somehow familiar rhythm. She dug her nails into his shoulders as he gently pulled in and out of her, they both moaned. She arched her back, running her hands down his back from his shoulders and back up to grab at his hair. She tugged at it hard, his pace quickened. He kissed her, all over. Her cheeks, her lips, her shoulder, her neck. Their breathing constrained more and more as the minutes went by. She lifted her legs off the bed ever so slightly, he gently grabbed one of her ankles and moved his hand up her leg, to her hip. From there it wandered up to her breast, she moaned at his touch. He thrust himself in and out of her, in rhythmic motions that were bringing them both closer to the edge. Their bodies were in perfect sync, the dyad had been fulfilled, as it had for Revan and Bastila all those generations before. They gave themselves to each other, every part of them now fully joined.

## A Visitor

The passion between them had been unleashed. Everything they felt for each other for the better part of a year had led up to this moment. A consummation of their established relationship. What they both had felt all this time was real. She laid in exhausted slumber, under the sheets of his bed at his house. He watched her sleep, the sight of her as a full woman was fascinating to him. The drape of her neck, her shoulders, the muscle tone under her skin, her hair. It was like he was photographing every curve of her in his brain. He stopped, he realized that for the first time in a long time, he felt complete. Complete and happy. That surely wouldn’t last. He slowly got out of the bed, slipping his pants back on but did not button them up all the way. He picked up his mother’s saber, that had fallen to the floor. He understood that they both were children of war. How she jumped up to defend herself, he had done the same when his uncle came into his room at the Jedi temple. He didn’t think anything bad of his uncle now as he had before. That act had single-handedly pushed him into the rage that would eventually consume Ben Solo and give rise to Kylo Ren. As he put the saber back on a nightstand, he looked around for Luke’s, or truthfully Anakin’s. He called it to him, and it responded. He looked at Rey, still sleeping. She now felt safe enough to let go and rest; she needed it. He put the legendary Skywalker Saber next to his mother’s. He started to pick up the broken plate and mess that had previously gone flying. He felt different. A newfound sense of responsibility washed over him. He knew now he was responsible for her, as she was of him. That felt heavy, but he welcomed it.

As he made his way to the kitchen area, he started to put together another meal for Rey. He wanted her to eat before she started in on any additional chores. He got a bit to eat for himself, thankful for the supplies the Resistance had sent her home with. He thought of the people that made up Rey’s world. How they would never accept him. Those same people had adored his mother, she had been the embodiment of freedom for all of them across the universe; he… quite the opposite. He thought back to what he told his grandfather about how killing his father, her husband, had been the cruelest stroke that sealed her fate. The guilt would be something he would have to work through and he hoped he could eventually forgive himself for it. That is basically what Anakin Skywalker had told him --- that this would take some time. He laid out the plate of food and drinking water for her on the kitchen counter with a note,

_“Rey, please eat. I’m working to get the cameras up and running. ~B”_

As he went back in the room --- creeping in to grab his shirt, belt, and boots --- he noticed she had rolled over on her side, the sheet had fallen off her and she was still completely naked. Her hair was flowing, and you could see the sweat making her skin glisten. He took a moment to take her in. He could die today, and it would have all been worth it, he thought to himself. The kid in him was gushing a bit at the fact they had just made love for the first time, something they both had not ever done before. In many ways, he thought, they were both like kids. But today somehow he felt like a man for the first time in his life. He stared at her for a little while longer before pulling the sheet back over her gently and heading out to work on restoring power to the place.

Ben made it to where the first set of solar panels were to check on the battery that was temporarily powering it so that it could gain enough sun-power to run on its own. The battery was dead, but the panels were still working. A good sign. Now he would be able to go to the rest of them, see if the first set had enough power to kickstart the next two. It would be a long process. He checked all the wiring, buried deep in the sands where it could find a respite from the pounding heat that the suns of Tatooine provided. All seemed good enough to kickstart the second solar panel set, so he gave it a go, and with a loud clang, the old system screeched to life. The first set held their charge, so he knew they at least were in good shape. He thought to himself, “Let’s see if these two will hold.” He thought he could probably run a wire from these two over to the two water vaporators in the courtyard to try to get running water going on this old farm.

As he was thinking about how far he could dig a trench to bury this new wire, he heard a loud clanging noise coming from the two solar panels he had just powered up. He sprung up to run towards it and using the Force he jumped over to it. Rey wrapped a sheet around her, screaming for Ben she ran outside, in just a sheet, “Ben!!!!” Frightful screams that cut through the air. He felt the desperation in her voice, so he acted quickly cutting off the power entirely to avoid an explosion. He turned to her, she stopped… dragging that sheet with her. She couldn’t breathe. He ran to her, Force jumping when he could get close. “Ben, ohhh by the Force, are you okay?” She was frantic looking at him, tears exploding in fear on her face. He hugged her, “I am fine, it was rusty wire, that’s all,” he said wrapping the sheet tighter around her. Luckily, the farm was miles away from any other property, instinctively protective of her now. He went to pick her up, but she refused to let him, “No!” she exclaimed, still scared. “The thought of it,” she whimpered. She couldn’t care what she looked like at that moment, “Rey, let’s go inside, please,” he pleaded with her. She could tell he was uncomfortable and quickly realized why. The sheet was a bit more see-through with sweat in the heat of the twin suns, “Ohhh.” She shrunk into his chest, now feeling the awkwardness of it all. He chuckled a bit, wrapped his arms around her, and this time when he tried to pick her up, she let him. “I forgot…” she wiped her eyes as she looked at him. “Forgotten already, I see,” he quipped playfully. “Not that…” she said to him shyly, “my clothes.” She turned a bright red, laying her head on his shoulder, “Of course not, not that,” Ben said.

He smiled as he set her down inside the front door. She looked up at him, her eyes twinkled a bit, she pecked him, “Thank you for worrying about my honor, but I think you’re too late,” she mused. “A thief came and stole it from me.” He laughed and quipped at her, “Is that so? Well, point me in their direction and I shall vanquish him.” She gave him an exaggerated gasp, “I’ve seen what that looks like; you’re not that scary,” she said wrinkling her nose. He laughed even harder. She delighted in the sound of it, smiling wide. She turned and went back to the bedroom. He just smiled watching her and shouted out, “I made you food, you should eat.” She was trying to find her clothes to put them back on, looking about the room. After a few minutes, she walked out of the room towards the kitchen strapping her belt back, “Good, I am starving!” She sat at the table and looked at the note he had left for her, she smiled bringing the paper up to her lips. She wasted no time digging into the food rations. “We have to get some real food if we’re staying here,” he exclaimed. “Pardon me, the food isn’t up to your standards, is it?” she smiled at him. “Utterly unacceptable,” he shot right back. She chuckled with a mouth full of food. He stopped, looked at the door, and then looked at her, he felt something. She immediately felt it at the same time through their bond. He darted outside, “Stay here!” She shot up, went to the room for the sabers clipping them both to her belt as she went after him.

Zorii was in approach, her Y-Wing, the _Comeuppance_ , was just breaking the surface of Tatooine. Finn had been trying to get word that Zorii was on her way to see her, but Rey had not gone into the _Falcon_ since he sent the message at around 2 in the afternoon; it was now after 6 in the evening. As Zorii caught site of the _Falcon_ , she felt her ship come to an abrupt halt in midflight, but she wasn’t falling out of the sky, she was caught in a pull against the ship’s will. It was Kylo Ren. When Rey got to him, she looked and she recognized the ship, “Zorii!” She screamed! She ran to Ben, standing slowly in front of him, completely unafraid, “Ben, no no no no… its Zorii. Please…” He flicked his eyes to her, she nodded reassuringly. Rey turned around to face the ship that was still quite high up, she slowed her breathing down. And before Ben could tell her no, she Force Blinked into the cockpit of Zorii’s ship. Zorii screamed, “WHAT THE KRIFF??!!” Rey looked at her, “Turn the engine off, now!” Zorii complied and the next second, Rey grabbed her Force Blinking back to where Ben was. Zorii was completely disoriented but she exclaimed, “No! Ship’s all I got!” She pointed to the ship now in Ben’s Force Grip. Rey turned, she was almost spent, she reached out to the ship. Ben felt her, “Nooo, Reyyy.” He grunted. She turned to him and whispered, “Together.” Ben looked to her and then back to the ship. Together, they slowed their breath to a rhythmic unison; they felt the Force almost double up in power. They brought the ship down, placing it gently on the sand close, maybe too close, to the house. Ben quickly turned to Rey, running to catch her as she fell. Zorii removed her helmet, her hair falling around her shoulders, and ran towards her, “Rey! Is she okay?” He nodded and picked her up once again.

Turning towards the house, he motioned for Zorii to follow them, “It drains her to use the Force like that, she’s not trained enough yet,” Zorii following him back to the small bedroom. Zorii had never been in such a dwelling, coming from a cold planet like Kijimi. As he laid her down on the bed, Zorii pushed past him, “Hey girly, wake up okay? Tell me you’re okay? You’ve got everyone worried.” She begged for Rey to wake up. Ben turned and got a damp rag from the kitchen, when he came back he tapped Zorii’s shoulder, handing her the rag. Zorii instinctively took it, placing it on Rey’s head. “Kriff, it's hot on this planet. Who would live here?” As Rey slowly came to, blinking her eyes, looking for Ben. Zorii noticed, she stood up moving aside. Rey smiled at Ben, “Zorii, Ben Solo…. Ben… Zorii Bliss.” She nodded once, not turning from facing Rey. Rey started to sit up, “They sent you, didn’t they?” Zorii moved back in closer, sitting on the edge of the bed, “No, I told them it would be better if I came. Did they not message you?” Rey felt a bit of blush come to her cheeks, “I haven’t been to the _Falcon_ since this morning, and we have no power,” she said. “I see,” Zorii said looking between them as unspoken words told her all she needed to know. She turned to face the former Supreme Leader, “Last time I saw you, I was trying to kill you, sorry. But what the kriff was all of that?” She made a motion to the sky, clearly meaning that she almost lost the _Comeuppance_. He didn’t answer her, knowing it was probably best not to speak. He looked to Rey. Rey looked up at him, smiled a bit, “Zorii, sit with me,” she took Zorii’s left arm, and smiled at her. Zorii sat down next to her.

Ben took his leave of the room letting the friends speak in private. Rey started, “Zorii, tell me about Poe.” Zorii was taken back by the request. Poe wasn’t someone she spoke about to anyone. “Tell me about Kylo Ren,” she retorted. Rey gave her a shy smile. “How long has this been going on?” Zorii asked. “A year,” Rey said without any hesitation. “Whaaat??” Zorii was shocked. “I mean, you’ve been at each other’s throats for just as long,” Zorii stated, “didn’t he almost kill all of our friends? Wasn’t he in charge when the First Order decided to blow up my home planet?” Rey looked down, “Yes, he did, and he was.” Zorii was silenced for a few minutes, she had to think, “You’re in a predicament, I mean. They are going to want him tried for his crimes. How are you going to navigate this?” Rey didn’t know, but she knew she could never walk away from him, “I cannot explain it, Zorii. But I love him. He has renounced the Sith and the First Order with it, and I can’t ever leave him.” Zorii stared at her, “Love is a fickle thing,” she finally said. “When he left, he left you, didn’t he?” Rey asked her. Zorii sighed, looked to the floor, her eyes started to well up with tears that she fought hard to draw back. “He did. He chose the Resistance. Don’t make that same mistake,” Zorii said as she rose a finger to her eye. “Tell me what happened, Zorii?” Rey asked.

Zorii sighed, “If you make me cry, I’ll never forgive you.” Rey smiled warmly, “I cannot make any promises.” Zorii looked at her for a few seconds, took a deep breath. She told her that she first met Poe when they were just teenagers, he had run off to Kijimi because the Republic had disappointed him in their inability to take action against the First Order’s violations of the Galactic Concordance. He wanted a different life, and she gave him one. What grew between them had to be kept hidden because she was a woman in charge. She felt as if she took on a lover or anything like that, it would equate to a weakness that could be exploited in her. So, she urged Poe to keep their romance a secret. But it had not changed the fact that she had fallen for him and he for her, but with the Resistance, he found an acceptance that she could not give him. “What were we going to do, Rey? Get married, get knocked up, and settle someplace? No,” she looked at her. “I was too stubborn for that. He asked me to run away with him, I refused instead running away myself. I think I broke his heart,” Zorii continued, “and that is when he decided to swindle the crew and join the Resistance as a pilot.” Zorii paused a moment. She looked up at her, “If you love him, run away with him. Do not look back, we’ll always be able to find you. I mean Finn, you know. But this type of love, I know it and I was a damn fool to not accept it.” Tears welling in both eyes, she lost the fight, and they fell. Rey moved closer to Zorii now, hugged her, “Go find Poe, he’s a good man Zorii. Kijimi is gone, nothing can be done about that, but this feeling, like what I feel for Ben, don’t deny yourself the ability to feel it,” she said, “its what makes us human.” Ben had heard her, and the guilt came again at the thought of Kijimi, even though it had been Palpatine that gave that order, and Allegiant General Pryde had executed the order.

Rey made her way to her feet, “Come, you can use one of the rooms to stay in. Have you eaten?” she asked Zorii. Zorii smiled at her, “I can always eat.” Rey chuckled, “I know exactly what you mean,” and she did because she had also, like Zorii, had a rough life. As the two women came to the kitchen where Ben was preparing another plate, Zorii piped up, “Yeah okay this is weird. The Supreme Leader of the First Order is making us dinner?” She shook her head as she took a seat, looking straight at Ben as he offered her the plate, “Is it poisoned?” Ben didn’t say anything. Rey looked between them a moment, “I am kidding,” Zorii said. She dove in right along with Rey, Ben took his meal much slower. “Not exactly the kind of food you’re used to, I assume?” Zorii asked Ben. Ben replied sharply, “Assume nothing about me.” Zorii continued to dine on the rations in front of her, “Well, you didn’t destroy the _Comeuppance_ , so thanks, okay?” Ben just looked at her, “Ship’s name?” he asked her to break the ice a bit. Zorii nodded, “It’s taken me years to get her in the best shape I can.” Zorii looked at both of them, a question formed on her lips, “How the hell did you just appear in my ship, Rey? And how did the both of you land an unmanned god damn Y-wing starfighter?”

Rey looked to her, “You have questions?” Zorii looked at her, “Yeah, so tall, dark, handsome, and evil over here… just how good is he in bed? I mean he must be amazing!” Ben shot Rey a look, Rey’s mouth dropped open, and she gasped. “Girl, you know that everyone’s going to be asking that drukk,” Zorii said as Rey’s cheeks turned red. Zorii looked to him, who was now staring at her with an incredulous look on his face. She could tell he didn’t care for her, “The feeling’s mutual, pal, trust me. But you need security like last year on this place. For me to get that close before you “felt” it,” Zorii said in air quotes, “is going to get the two of you killed.” Finally, something they agreed on, “We need to dig a trench and bury new power lines to the two vaporators in the courtyard; that will give us running water. Until we can get all the solar panels working, we cannot generate enough electricity to power all the far-field cameras my uncle had all over the place,” Ben said. Zorii stuffing the last bit of food in her mouth, “Oh, that’s right, didn’t you like kill your whole family?” Rey put her hand on Zorii’s arm. Zorii turned to Rey, who whispered, “Please.” Zorii sighed as Ben put his plate down and took his leave outside.

“You mustn’t press him like that, he’s still battling his demons,” Rey told Zorii. Zorii turned to face her, “If you can’t handle the heat from me, love, how are you going to handle the wrath that is Poe Dameron? Because you know he won’t just wipe his slate clean because you asked him to.” Rey paused for a moment, “I haven’t the faintest idea, but this is what it is. We belong together.” Zorii now could freely ask, “How did this happen, Rey?” Rey took a deep breath and proceeded to tell Zorii everything, about Snoke’s control over Ben and how Darth Sidious had been behind it the whole time, that they had tainted him against his whole family from a very young boy. That Han and Leia made it easy for them to target their son because they were too busy leading their own lives. She told her that a balance must exist between the Dark and Light sides of the Force and that they both had learned that lesson. She also shared with her that she was a Palpatine, “No kriffing way!” Zorii couldn’t believe it. “So, if I can choose to do good, so can he. Doesn’t that mean something?” Rey asked. “I don’t know. But if the First Order remnants figure out he is alive, they’ll hunt him down and if you are with him Rey, you’ll be in the way,” Zorii now took on a look of concern. “You have to stay hidden, Rey. They do know you’re alive and either way, they will want you to pay for the “supposed” death of their Supreme Leader,” Zorii said to Rey. The two women talked more about their friends and Rey prodded Zorii a bit about “the men in her life” because she couldn’t imagine that Zorii had only been in love with Poe Dameron. “No, he wasn’t my only love, but he was certainly my last,” Zorii replied. Rey put a hand on her shoulder, “because you cannot see yourself with anyone else?” Zorii smirked, “No, because he drove me to hate all men.” Rey smiled, “I can see how that could happen,” Rey said, “he can be a real pain in the ass.” The two women laughed and Zorii proceeded to tell her about her love life before Poe.

Meanwhile, Ben feeling the sting of Zorii’s question, went to start digging the trench. Tatooine has three moons, so moonlight was beautiful here. He stopped to take in the beauty of it. Memories of his uncle Luke flooded him. When he was little, Ben would spend time here with Luke, where he put him to work on the farm. It’s how Ben knows about how everything works in this place. It was also significantly cooler at night, so he made use of the time. The vaporators had never really been upgraded, so these were the same ones from when Luke was young. They needed a lot of maintenance. He didn’t want to go back inside, so he started to make his way to the 2 solar panels that had almost failed before to start to troubleshoot them. Zorii made her way out to him, Rey at her side. “That’s not going to work, friend,” Zorii said to Ben. “We don’t have what we need here, so we must make do,” he replied. “Well, I always carry a ton of crap with me, let me see what I can find on the _Comeuppance_ ,” Zorii made her way back towards her ship.

Rey was feeling the cold, which in turn made him feel it. Ben stood up and went over to Rey, hugging her. He would run his hands up and down her arms to warm her up. “I am sorry, she is not a….” Rey was searching for the words, “… delicate person.” Ben kissed her forehead as she wrapped her arms around him. “I am bound to face worse than the likes of Zorii Bliss,” Ben said, and they knew that was true. Rey closed her eyes, her head to his chest, she could hear his heartbeat. “Let’s get these new lines installed because the original ones are rusted through and almost disintegrated,” Ben said to her. “Let me go try to find a cowl or coat for us,” Rey replied.

Ben got to work digging through the sand. Zorii walked up with some tools and a box, “Hey,” Ben looked to her, “found extra power wires and oh another battery, also some additional plumbing supplies, if we have to repair anything,” Zorii told Ben. “Thank you,” Ben said. He went back to digging, Zorii looked back towards the dwelling, “If you dare to hurt her in the harshest way possible,” Zorii started, Ben stopped digging, “I will never hurt her, I never did,” Ben replied as he returned to digging. “Really? Because killing the people she loved hurt her,” Zorii retorted, Ben stopped digging again. He looked at Zorii, her words he knew were true. “I know how much I’ve taken, believe me,” Ben ran a hand through his hair, “but do you know how much was taken from me?” Zorii looked back towards the dwelling and saw Rey coming towards her carrying some heavier clothes and coats. She turned back to Ben, eyes locking with his. Ben returned to digging. “I found some old coats and sweaters, in case it gets as cold as Jakku does out here,” Rey said handing one to Zorii, “I won’t need it, Rey. I am from Kijimi, my blood is naturally cold. I’ll go see what I can do about the control boxes of the second solar station,” Zorii said as she stood up and handed Rey the box.” Rey smiled at her, put on a coat, and hopped down where Ben was digging. The three of them worked for four hours and got 6 solar panels, the 2 central vaporators, and a single camera working. Since the solar panels they put up wouldn’t be gathering power until the sun came up, 1 camera was all they managed to get running. Ben went inside to test it out. The monitors were old, dusty, and dingy, but still managed to work.

The group decided to call it a night and get some dinner before going to bed. After dinner, Zorii brought some Andoan White she had on the _Comeuppance_ to the kitchen, “We need a drink,” she stated. This Ben could get behind. He started the water at the sink, hoping to see running water. It started as a trickle that eventually turned into a rush of water. Ben couldn’t help but smile. “Yes!” Rey exclaimed. She moved to clean a few old mugs she had rummaged around for. She set them down, still wet. Zorii popped the bottle open. Rey had never had Andoan White so that would be new to her. Ben of course had it before as did Zorii, who loved a good wine almost as much as a good shag, so she poured a tiny bit for Rey. “It's strong, girl. Go easy,” Zorii warned. She then poured herself a hefty drink, passing the bottle to Ben who matched her. Zorii searched Ben’s face, something about what he had said to her earlier left her with so many questions. She never stopped to think that Kylo Ren had lost anything in this war. Zorii retired to a back bedroom, which after a few drinks, she needed the rest. Ben reached across the kitchen table to offer Rey his hand, his palm open to her. She didn’t hesitate in sliding her hand into his. He brought it to his lips, kissing it. They retired to Ben’s old room, closing the door.


	4. Chapter 3: Rebellion Reborn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> __**SYNOPSIS**   
> 
> 
> _Poe has lost Leia; the Resistance has lost Leia. He needs help, he's very unsure of how to rebuild the Resistance from what is left. He did feel a newfound sense of unification from the galaxy's citizens at Exegol, but many were left homeless. So, he's put out a call to all citizens that have lost their home to head to Crait, where they were setting up a temporary shelter._
> 
> _Finn is more than willing to help Poe, but he has little experience in leading an entire military unit. He is struggling with the fact that he is Force-sensitive; he will need training. He also has to contend with the feelings he has towards Rose, which had largely gone unaddressed._
> 
> _Maz jumps to action, feet first. The spirited **Pirate Queen** sees it as her responsibility to take up the torch that Leia left for the galaxy. Her sights are set on rebuilding the Republic to bring stability to the galaxy and to lead efforts to rebuild her tavern on Takodana._
> 
> _Zorii is a mess; she's never been so emotional in her entire life. Losing her home has cracked her wide open and feelings she's pushed down are bubbling back up._

## General Dameron

General Poe Dameron was called into the hologram table room where Finn was waiting for him. “We got word from Tatooine?” Poe asked Finn, who nodded a single yes. “Pass the transmission on the main hologram,” Finn asked the dispatchers as he closed the door. As the hologram came in, Zorii’s face manifested in front of them. “Trooper,” she didn’t acknowledge Poe. “Hello Poe, how are you Poe, so nice to see you, Poe, I miss you, Poe,” Poe started to poke fun at Zorii; she just rolled her eyes, Finn interrupted, “yeah, you okay? Everything okay?” He asked. Zorii replied, “Would you believe me if I told you, everything’s smashing?” She replied. Poe asked Finn, “Ask her about Kylo Ren,” he was looking at Zorii, “ I am right here, dumbass,” she started her answer, “He’s good, I mean other than Force landing the _Comeuppance_ , he’s good.” Poe flinched, “What you mean like magnetic pull?” Finn answered him, “Like Rey, in Pasana, remember? Chewie.” Poe remembered and looked at Zorii, “He didn’t hurt you or the Comeup--- I’ll kill him,” his emotion raised. “Calm down, Poe, no… he didn’t ruin the ship or me or Rey for that matter,” she rolled her eyes at Poe, “Oh, for the love of…” She paused and let out a deep sigh before continuing, “they are, how do I put this nicely… no longer virgins, Poe. Okay there, I said it. They are for sure, a hundred percent, a couple. You know like we used to be?” The room went quiet for a few seconds, Finn broke the silence, “She’s not going to leave him,” Finn stated. Zorii looked at Finn, her eyes said everything he needed to hear, “No, no she’s not, even if he asked her to leave him, which I’ll be honest, I think he would ask her knowing everything that would await him on both sides,” she said. Finn tapped the edge of the hologram table; Poe crossed his arms tossing Finn a quick look. “Boys, we’re going to have to make some concessions here, or we’ll lose her forever. She won’t forgive us,” she finished. Finn looked to Poe, “She is kinda big on forgiveness, Poe.” Poe looked at Zorii with a defiant look, “Goddammit Poe,” she said, “one day that righteousness of yours is going to kill you. Bliss, Over and out!” Zorii disconnected from the comm line. “You know she has a point,” Finn said. “He’s a war criminal Finn, he blew up entire solar systems,” Poe retorted. Finn thought about that, “We need him, Poe, I’ll be honest. He can turn the tide here for our efforts in rebuilding the Resistance, and the Republic for some resemblance of government. I mean he is the son of Leia, as in Princess Leia, not just the General, it is his birthright to rule from that seat by Senate Code,” Finn stated matter-of-factly before continuing, “What would Leia say about all this? Do you think if she had the chance to bring her son back to the Light, she wouldn’t do everything she could to make sure that happened?” Poe put a hand under his chin, he had to think long and hard. “I am not about to just forgive his atrocities, Finn. All the people we lost on the _Raddus_ , he blew up mothers, and fathers, and sons, and daughters in the Fighter Bay on that ship. How are any of them supposed to forgive that?” Poe was right and Finn knew it. Finn sighed, turned, and started for the door, before exiting the room, he said to Poe, “Didn’t we kill mothers, fathers, sons, daughters too?” The truth of Finn’s words washed over him. No matter what side you were on, you were on the losing side.

Just then the hologram went off, it snapped Poe out of his thoughts. It was coming from Tatooine, he thought it was Rey, so he immediately engaged it, “Rey!” he exclaimed, “Nope,” Zorii said, “yeah I get it she’s more important, being a Jedi and all that.” Poe’s face softened, “Jealous?” Zorii just rolled her eyes as usual, “We need to talk when I get back there,” she said to him thinking about her crew. He stared at the hologram of her intently, “Can you switch to a private channel?” He asked. “What good would that solve, you big dumb animal?” She asked. Silence befell them for a few seconds before Poe broke it, “Please?” Zorii let out a frustrated grunt, “Fine! T-48.” She switched over to the private channel. Poe took a deep breath and switched over to the same channel, “Zorii, I am sorry. For all of it,” Poe didn’t hesitate. Zorii didn’t say anything for a brief second but she broke, “I don’t want to talk about that,” Zorii said. “You never do, and that’s the problem, Zo’, we need to talk about it. You have no home, and I have a home for you here with us. The crew is all welcomed with us,” Poe stated knowing that if he talked about the crew, and not just his own desire to have Zorii stay with him, it would land better. He also knew that he needed Zorii’s leadership abilities in order to rebuild the Resistance. She was always a natural-born leader and had led the Spice Runners effectively. Zorii dropped her eyes down to her lap, she didn’t want to let him see how much effect he still has on her, fighting it all back she said, “Are _you_ asking me, Poe? Or is General Dameron asking _me_?” She wanted him to say that Poe desired specifically for her, but she thought knew him too well; he wouldn’t say it. “Zo’, they are one in the same now. I am Poe, but I am also General Dameron and I cannot just think of myself anymore,” he said and sighed before continuing, “Poe wants _you_ , General Dameron wants all of you, the crew too, I trust you all,” he said to her. This shocked her, she didn’t expect him to mention his own feelings in this exchange. There was a pause, she knew she had to get off the line before her eyes lost the fight against the tears that were welling up in her. “I’ll talk to the crew, but I cannot guarantee anything,” she managed to get out. Poe was looking at her intently, “And you wouldn’t want to stay if they don’t?” He asked. “Poe don’t ask me questions I don’t know the answer to, I simply do not know. I have woken up to a whole new world here, my home is gone,” she started to break her voice, “and I am sitting here with the man that ultimately is responsible for that event, trying to be nice, when all I want to do is kill him in his sleep!” Poe nodded, “I can understand that feeling, Zo’. I am sorry you are in that predicament; I had wanted to spare everyone from that conflict as much as I could. I swear I tried,” Zorii sighed, “But after spending some time with him, I no longer want to kill him, more like rough him up, but I think… maybe… perhaps… he might have changed, and I know you did… you did your best,” she chuckled a bit. “What makes you say that?” Poe inquired. “My eyes. I see how he is with her, it’s like a totally different person, not that I knew him before but… I never thought about the fact that maybe he had been abused as savagely he was. Rey told me the entire story, and no I won’t recount it here I’ll let her tell you or even him, though he has a hard time with it still,” she answered. “By the Force, is that sympathy I detect?” Poe flat out asked. “No! I still want to kill him. But I am just stating that as much as we have our losses, it never really occurred to me that Ben Solo also his,” Zorii said. Silence befell them. Neither of them had actually considered the losses that the First Order suffered simply because none of us could ever see them as sentient or human. Poe broke the silence, “Zo’,” Zorii stopped him, “Don’t.” Poe ignoring her request, “You are the only woman---” suddenly the hologram disconnected, and Poe knew it was intentional. He sat there thinking that he may never get to say the actual words.

## General Finn

As Finn exited the main hologram table room leaving Poe to his thoughts, he walked down the hall to the engineer’s alcove, he was looking for Rose. Rose Tico was fiddling with an R2 unit to install some flight upgrades when suddenly she was zapped, “Kriff, ouch!” She exclaimed and dropped the circuit soldering gun she held. She put her finger in her mouth to calm the heat, bending down to pick the gun back up but Finn had beaten her to it. Finn smiled. Her eyes locked on his, “Oh hey! How did it go in there? Is Rey okay? Did Zorii kill Kylo Ren?” she joked. Finn chuckled, “I am sure she wants to, but then Rey wouldn’t be okay, no?” He said as he handed the soldering gun back to Rose. “That’s just crazy, right?” Rose rhetorically asked, “I mean don’t get me wrong, he’s a perfectly acceptable male human specimen, but he is _Kylo Ren_ ,” she emphasized Ben’s alter ego’s name. Finn flinched a bit, “You think he’s hot?” Rose put the soldering gun down, “Oh kriff yes. I mean his posters were up all over the place, obviously quality photography but yes… he’s hot,” she sure did not sugar coat anything. Finn scoffed. Rose noticed. “He’s also very evil,” she added. “Well maybe, we don’t know the whole story but if Rey sees something we don’t, I trust her enough to lead me to the enlightenment,” Finn said. “Does Poe know that BB-8 went with Rey?” Rose asked. “Yes, he was not happy about that. I told him that Rey would be safer with him there,” Finn chuckled. “He is quite the droid,” Rose picked up the circuit board and the soldering gun to continue work, “Yes, I guess we all share him now.” Finn nodded once, then looked at his watch, “It’s late, did you eat?” Rose didn’t look up from her work, “No, but not really hungry.” Finn stood up, standing next to her, “Want to hit the mess hall with me?” Finn asked. Rose stopped for a second, thinking to herself about the awkwardness of it all after the Battle of Crait, “No, you go ahead, I need to finish this.” Finn was dejected. He couldn’t get her to do anything with him after that kiss, and they had not talked about it at all. He felt like things wouldn’t be settled until they did and would remain awkward. He said nothing about it, but as he turned to walk away, “Let me know if you ever do.” Rose zapped herself again.

Finn followed the hallway down to the mess hall, grabbed himself some food rations, and also some for Rose. He didn’t quite know how to feel about her, but he cared for her. He was so preoccupied with where the Resistance would settle all the galaxy’s displaced populations that were arriving each day to Crait. Crait was not a hospitable planet, the winter would see the temperatures drop to negative 75, making the planet completely uninhabitable without proper housing that has been winterized. And of course, there was the ever-present “feeling” of the Force that he had no control over nor any training on. Things were certainly much more pressing than trying to figure out his romantic feelings for Rose. At least that’s what he told himself. He walked back, stopping in at several places to check on things and people; between him and Poe, he was certainly the one more in tune with the people he looked out for. 

He made it back to the engineer’s cove, Rose was still working. She gave him a look out of the corner of her eye, “Back so soon?” Finn put the plate of food off to the side of her worktable, “Thought I’d make sure you ate something.” She looked at him, smiled a bit, and nodded. Finn stood there awkwardly. After a few seconds, “What are you upgrading?” He asked. Rose wasn’t really up for visitors, but indulged him, “Upgrading the navigational records on all our droids with the new galactic charts. If we’ve learned anything is that there are a lot of places we haven’t yet explored fully. But hey, thanks for the food,” Rose said. She was really anxious about having him go… the other folks working around the shop were packing up for the night and she did not want to be alone with him there. She made the conscious decision to stop what she was doing, against her own will, simply due to the fact that there were only two other engineers besides her left. She took the food, started to eat quickly as she packed up her station. Finn, who was leaning on the desk, eating himself, stayed quiet and watched her. He knew she was trying to avoid being alone with him. “It looked like you really wanted to get this done,” he said pointing at the scatters on the worktable she was working on packing up. “Figured I’d rest up and tackle it early tomorrow,” she replied rather dryly. Finn couldn’t help himself, “Rose, I really want to talk to you about what happened.” Rose kept packing up, but was now tense, “I don’t really have much to say about the matter, sooo yeah.” And with that, she tossed away whatever was left of her food rations and hurried her pace. “Well, I think we need to talk about it, Rose… please,” he begged her. “Nope. But thanks!” She left a few things on the table, took her leather bag, and started to walk away. She was a stubborn lot. Finn rolled his eyes. He was frustrated with the situation and he knew he felt something for her, just too tired to chase her.

## Maz Kanata

Maz Kanata knew she had to return to Takodana. She would need help to rebuild the old castle that now laid in ruins due to the First Order’s attack. She had stayed long enough to help Leia defeat the First Order, and she did. Now it’s time to rebuild and restore. As she was chatting with some of the Citizen’s Fleet allies that had helped Leia reconquer freedom for the Galaxy, she noticed Poe hanging around the bay speaking to some of the people that had been displaced from Kijimi’s untimely destruction. She thought, all these people and allies were now homeless. She rubbed her chin and decided to walk over to the new General. “Hey kid, how are you holding up?” She asked him. He sighed, dropping down to her height, “It’s a challenge.” He motioned for Vibbo to come over to introduce him to Maz, “Maz Kanata, this is Vibbo from Kijimi. He’s part of Zorii’s old crew,” he said. Maz smiled looking up at the guy, “Why hello! I am so sorry to hear of your homeworld, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.” Vibbo nodded and smiled, “Thank you. Been to Takodana and to your old castle, maybe my brother Vicii and I could help you restore it, for a price of course?” Vibbo said to her. She smiled, at this point, she could use all the help he could. “I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it, but first I have to help the General here,” Maz replied as she looked around the bay at all the people that needed new homes. Vibbo nodded. “There is only a handful of survivors from Kijimi, the rest perished. If Vicii and I hadn’t been off-world, we might have gotten caught in the First Order’s crosshairs ourselves,” Vibbo said. Poe looked between them and then settled on Maz, “Maybe Takodana could be a refuge for these people, they need a home and new leadership.” Maz looked up to Poe and said, “A new Republic, perhaps!” Poe went to stand up, “Oh Leia would love that, it’s what she stood for,” Maz would finish his sentence, “What she fought for… freedom.” Poe smiled and nodded.

“Walk with me kid; nice to meet you, Vibbo!” She said to Poe and Vibbo. Vibbo nodded to Maz and shot a look at Poe. The brothers were not probably keen on the idea of the reformation of a new government. Most smugglers probably wouldn’t be. 

Poe followed behind Maz. “Do you think that’s something we could do?” He asked Maz. Maz continued to walk towards the exit of Citizen’s Bay, “I am not sure. We should probably see if there are any surviving senators or perhaps surviving children of senators that would inherit those seats for their planets, at least until the first elections are held. With the Hosnian system gone, that may prove difficult as it served as the capital of the Galactic Senate,” she said. Poe replied, “A lot of senators perished there.” Maz nodded once, “But their children may still be out there, it would be their birthright.” Poe walked alongside his friend, thinking back to Leia. Maz felt a bit of his confliction, “That does include Ben Solo. He is Leia and Han’s legitimate heir,” she looked to him. Poe said, “I just don’t think that’s going to happen, he’s a war criminal who killed his own father.” Maz responded, “Fact, yes, sadly. But his mother gave her dying breath to reach him and the last of her energy so that Rey could pull him back from the Force, that had accepted him and deemed him worthy. You know how many times in the history of this galaxy that has happened before Ben?” She didn’t even let him answer, “ZERO! And he’s going to need our help to stay on the right path. He doesn’t need us to pick the scab of a harsh scar that he’s trying to heal.” Poe asked, “How would you help him now?” Maz stopped, “By loving him and showing him what family really looks like,” she smiled before continuing, “that’s what Rey is doing.” Poe stopped to face her, looking down at the smiling face of his friend, “I don’t know if the people I serve will be so forgiving.” Maz turned to leave him at the door to his office, “Forgiveness is at the core of the Light. If we cannot forgive, what are we fighting for then? What did all these people lose their lives for?” Poe stood there a bit mulling Maz’s words over. She was right.

## Call to the Senate

After a good night’s sleep, Poe thought he’d feel better about his chat with Maz, but he didn’t. He was pacing the floor of his office when Finn knocked on the door, “You wanted to see me?” Poe motioned him to enter, “Yeah buddy, I need to run something by you,” he said. Finn sat down and leaned in, “What is it?” “Well, Maz said something that I think may be helpful as we try to piece this galaxy back together,” he said. “We’ll need all the help we can get; we’re running out of room here and will soon have to find more space for all these refugees, especially those from Kijimi,” Finn stated. Poe nodded, “Well Maz said that the Galactic Senate might be able to be reformed and that perhaps the survivors of the Senators’ families might be interested in retaking their family seats in such an effort, of evoking the Senate Code.” Finn looked a bit puzzled, but proceeded to ask, “Do you think that’s something we should think about organizing as co-Generals of the Resistance? Because I got to be honest, I don’t know the first thing about politics.” Poe scoffed, “And I do?” Finn scratched his head, “Well then how do we set out to even start this? And who could we ask about forming a new government, would there be anyone that knows how to do that?” Poe looked at him, “I only know one person that sort of, kind of, sort of ever led an entire dictatorship.” He was serious. Finn’s eyes grew wide, “You mean Ben Solo.” Poe corrected him, “Kylo Ren.” Finn sighed, “I am not asking him, nope. Not going to happen.” Poe rolled his eyes, “Because you think it would land better coming from me? I hate the guy! I want to see him spend time in a… hmmm, whatever!” Poe thought the Hosnian system was one of the few places that actually had prisons; now that’s gone. “Well, that’s where we disagree, I think if he can atone for his sins, he shouldn’t have to go to one of those places,” Finn replied. “There isn’t any of those places left, because he blew one up!!” Poe raised his voice. “He too important to all of it, Poe, and maybe you cannot see that because you’re not---“ Finn stopped. “Say it,” Poe egged on. “Say it!” Poe raised his voice again, looking at him, “I’ll say it… one of you.” Finn’s mouth dropped, he stood up making way to the door. Poe uncrossed his arms, “Oh bud… I am sorry,” he started after him, but Finn was already slamming the door to Poe’s office.

Maz Kanata was in the hallway, she had felt the angst coming through the Force out of Poe’s office, so she started her way along to it, when Finn slammed the door to Poe’s office. “That stubborn piece of drukk… ughhh,” Finn let out a frustrated low growl, and when he looked up he had seen Maz coming his way. He didn’t even let her say anything, “Did you fill his head with ideas of reforming the entire Galactic Senate?” Maz retorted, “Well, all I said was we should try to contact the senators’ families that may still be alive and start there, not that we should put the two of you baby porgs in charge of it! By the Force!” Maz started walking with Finn, who now was headed over to receive more refugees from the First Orders attacks across the Galaxy. “Well he seems to think that we should do that and that I should ask Ben Solo to help,” Finn threw his hands up. Maz chuckled, “Well that’s one of the many ways Ben Solo could help us pick the pieces of what the First Order has done, isn’t it?” Finn said to her as they turned the corner towards Citizen’s Bay, “Maybe, but how am I to ask him that? Waltz into Tatooine and go, ‘Excuse me, like 3 days ago I know I wanted you dead, but hey now you can help us form an entirely new government?’ I don’t even really know the guy or anything about this version of him; we only know Kylo Ren.” Maz thought in that moment of Chewie, of the many memories of a small Ben Solo coming to the Castle and sitting on Chewie’s lap as Han and her would talk business. She ran ahead of Finn a bit and stopped him, “Kid, let me handle it. I’ve known Ben Solo since he was born, I watched him come into this universe. His father was one of my dearest friends, as was his mother. I’ll talk to Chewie; we can help!” Finn looked to her, “I still think we need to give them more time alone. They’ve just found each other and for Rey, this is something she’s longed for all her life. I don’t think we need to rush,” he moved to open the door to the hangar bay, “any of th---” He stopped looking at the packed bay, Maz followed his gaze, “I disagree, we’re at capacity here and growing by the hour. We will not be able to feed all these people! We need someone with that type of natural leadership, and while Ben’s alliance to the Dark Side may have been a grave mistake, his parents were, if nothing else, exceptional leaders.” Finn sighed. She was right.

Maz moved towards where she knew her “boyfriend” would be, in the Citizen’s Bay helping with repairs and such, she strolled over to one of the more damaged ships, “Chewie, let’s chat hot stuff!” Maz called to the Wookie. The Wookie replied with a smile, “Wyaaaaaa. Muuaazz Ruh ruh?” _{Hello Maz, how are you?}_ “Better now that I am with you, but need to chat in private, got a few?” Maz replied. The two of them walked towards a mech room in the back of the hangar bay, and after ensuring no one was around, she said, “Ben Solo.” Chewie roared, the wound of losing Han still fresh in his mind, “Rowr ahragh awf ahraroww rowh rohngr grgrff rf rf.” _{He says he’s a Jedi Knight again.}_ “No, but he’s not a Sith anymore either,” she replied, “and Rey will show him the way. But what he surely is, is the son of Han and most especially, Leia. She gave her life for his, and we should honor that. Ben Solo is the son of not only a Princess but also of a Senator,” she finished. Chewie pondered her words, “Huaah maw wuwu agah?” _{How will he atone?}_ He asked. “Perhaps establishing a new Jedi Order with Rey? Or serving on a new Senate?” Maz raised an eyebrow and gave Chewie a smirk. “Aaaarrr wgh ggwaaah Hwwaaann,” _{I still feel sick about Han.}_ Chewie started mentioning his old dear friend by name. “I know, but you and I are the only ones that still remember Ben Solo; everyone else is gone, and that little boy needs our help,” Maz pleaded. “Huaahh bev addik ji fro,” _{When he was a child, I was his guardian, he was loved, but he was proud.}_ Maz nodded, “Yes, that pride left him vulnerable, and Snoke took advantage of that vulnerability. His parents were too self-involved, too important to the galaxy’s problems, they let this happen.” Chewie growls in agreement, “Uma.” _{Yes.}_ “We must go to him, talk to him, help him,” Maz said. Chewie let out a low growl, “Ruuhr-ahr ahhowww gruh-row-ow.” _{Let’s give it a try together.}_ Maz smiled, they continued to talk sharing memories of a cute little boy with wavy black hair challenging his uncle Chewie about touching buttons on the _Falcon_. The two would do all they could to help, they’d do it for Leia and Han, they’d do it for a New Republic.

## In Short Supply

Poe was on comms with Lt. Kaydel Connix, who was informing Poe of the increasing number of refugee ships that were coming in from all over the Galaxy seeking refuge. There were still splinter cells of the First Order around and in planets where there was still an otherwise strong presence, citizens felt a need to flee. Connix stated over comms, “We’ve just checked in a total of 42 more just this morning, and there is a scheduled 118 that we know of enroute; we simply won’t be able to keep up.” “Is General Finn there?” Poe asked as he made his way out of his office, the situation would quickly become dire. “Yes, he’s working to intake the remaining citizens of the 42,” Connix replied. “Good, let him know to continue efforts in making space for them, I’ll man a squadron on a traditional old hunting party, see what food we may be able to scrounge up on this planet or those nearby. Any updates on fixing the door of the old base? Might need to weather out winter on this planet by the looks of it.” “Will inform General Finn sir, and we’re about 68% complete with the restoration efforts of the old base,” Connix informed Poe. “Thanks, Kay, over and out,” Poe ended comms. 

As he approached the hangar bay he ran into Chewbacca, who was clearly was frustrated. “Hey, bud, what’s happening?” Poe asked. Chewie would grunt and growl in Shyriiwook, which Poe had grown accustomed to, “RRRrrruurgh! Arrggg! _{I am not happy about this situation.}_ “I know buddy, we’re rallying up a hunting party to try to find food.” Poe stated. Chewie nodded, “Uoo waa gaa moo.” _{Eating is good.}_ Chewie walked back with Poe, to help him rally more volunteers to the cause. As Poe walked in he looked for Finn, finding him he motioned for him to come over. Finn and Poe, along with Chewie moved closer to each other in lockstep. “Finn, we need to rally some troops to help us counter the looming food shortage,” Poe looked at him, “Yeah, we got 24 hours before we got big problems,” Finn responded. “Okay let me make an announcement,” Poe said. Finn nodded as all three went to the registry desk.

Poe moved to the PA system turning it on, clicking on the button to speak, “Folks, we need everyone to listen up.” He clicked off the button as people were busy scurrying about Citizen’s Bay. He clicked it back on again, standing on the desk, “LISTEN UP!!!!” He raised his voice and people slowly came to a gather in front, “We need volunteers to help us hunt, yes hunt, for our food. We have less than 12 hours before we’re facing a food shortage. If you have an available small-class ship, we need your help. As more refugees from First Order-controlled sections of the Galaxy start to seek safety with us after our hard-fought Battle on Exegol, we need folks who have the know-how and swift transportation to help fill our food storage. While the First Order has been defeated, there are still planets that need our help to stomp the dictatorship out of existence. But we cannot do that if we starve to death,” Poe clicked the button off. He looked around as folks nodded in agreement, clicking the button back on, “If you know of any nearby planet that may have an abundance of food that we can utilize, please let us know. We need smaller ships to ensure we’re not drawing unnecessary attention. If everyone would go on a small scale, once per day, to get a small batch of food and supplies, we can help all the planets of the Galaxy finally break free from the clutches of the First Order.” Chewie growled, “Wah shrf shrf shrf rrrooaarrgghh.” _{Let’s all get on board.}_ The crowd erupted in cheers, and folks started to line up at the registry desk.

Finn got to work, registering all the volunteers and their ships along with destinations they would travel to near Crait. He instructed some of the others to also do the same. They wanted to ensure a quick turnaround and like Poe had said they also didn’t want to attract a lot of attention; keeping it to small ships would help that. Poe called Finn over to the area where the Spice Runners had settled temporarily. Vicii approached with Vibbo, they were joined by a third, Vigilch, “Crew, I need a huge favor,” Finn nodded to the men as Poe continued, “we are organizing hunting parties in small ships nearby,” he stopped and Finn continued, “We need both distractions and intel,” Poe nodded, “Finn, this is Vicii, Vibbo, and our old pal Vigilch, some of the best fliers in all the ‘verse.” The men shook hands and started discussing a plan to ensure the hunting parties had safe travels between Crait and the neighboring planets that were forming up to get the food and supplies they needed.

Towards the end of the night, most of the Citizen Refugees that had gone to scrounge up some food had started to make their way back to Crait. The Spice Runners had provided a lot of air cover, intel, and security right until the last ship had returned. Poe was very happy to see his old crewmates go out of their way to help; it was surely different times as smugglers rarely did anything for free. Poe ensured their ships had the maintenance and fuel they needed, which Vicii, Vibbo, and Vigilch were thankful for. They did state they’d need payment if this was to be a recurring thing, Poe didn’t expect anything less. The hunters had brought back enough food to feed the current residents for three days, but Poe knew that they’d need to stay ahead of it because more refugees were showing up every day. Finn stayed helping everyone prepare the meat for storage and fill up the cooling containers.

Poe made his way from the hangar bay to the hologram table room where he started trying to hail Zorii on comms. It beeped for a while before a sleepy Zorii came online. “Oh, I almost gave up,” Poe said. “Don’t tease a girl,” Zorii replied. Poe was used to her sarcastic humor, but this time he really wasn’t sure. “You look really tired,” Poe said, “What are you guys up to?” Zorii grabbed a blanket from the room she was staying in and wrapped herself in it. She plopped herself in front of the comms transceiver that was transmitting from the _Comeuppance_ , “Getting the alarm system and long-field camera systems back up and running, which of course requires solar power to be restored to a 100-year old sand dune,” she replied. “Sounds fun,” Poe immediately stated, “and sooo, ummm, like, yeahhh, how’s Kylo Ren?” Zorii sighed, “Still want to kill him, but today a little less than yesterday,” Zorii was honest. Poe nodded, staring at her for a few seconds, “Maz had an idea.” Zorii rolled her eyes, “Oh for all that’s light and holy, who allowed her to think?” Poe chuckled, “Well, she thinks we should reach out across the Galaxy to all the survivors of the New Republic or their heirs to reform the Senate,” Zorii rolled her eyes again, “So, back to smuggling we’ll go unless you have forgotten that we want to be free and independent of all that?” Poe replied, “Yes, I remember. But it is better than having chaos and dissent across the galaxy.” Zorii went silent for a second thinking, “So if that’s the case, wouldn’t Ben Solo be one of those heirs?” Poe let out a deep sigh, “I hate to say it, but I know that Leia would see him that way,” Zorii quickly replied, “Hate to fan the flames, but that may be the only way the remnants of the First Order would keep a distance from him after turning back to the Light,” Poe thought a bit, “That could work, and it would keep certain Resistance members from stripping him naked, hanging him by his toes, and blood-letting him to death.” Zorii squished her nose, “Thanks for that mental picture.” Poe smiled, “You’re welcomed.” Another moment of silence passed between them, “Zo’,” Poe started as Zorii interrupted him, “Anyways, I am really tired, do you want me to tell the Supreme Leader about this senate business?” Poe, still holding his words in his throat and feeling if he didn’t say it right there and then the earth beneath him would swallow him whole, “I love you, always have, always will.” He stared at her for a while, “I take it the answer is yes?” Zorii said matter-of-factly. “Come on, Zo’, really?” Poe scoffed, “And Maz and Chewie will be heading that way in the next few days. But… are we ever going to talk about this?” Zorii quickly responded, “No, we’re not. I’ll play messenger boy.” Zorii closed the connection on her comms transceiver. Poe hung his head and thought about Zorii and how much he had missed her for the last 4 years since their time in Kijimi. He was tired and started to make his way to his tent. At least people wouldn’t immediately starve. 

## Regrets

Back on Tatooine, Zorii had cut off the connection before Poe could see her tear up. Her thoughts were racing. She sat back on the bed, wrapping her blanket around her again. In that moment of solitude, she let go of the fight. Tears started to stream down her face, she shook her head in defiance wanting to shake the tears that started to flow away.

Ben and Rey were in the kitchen, reviewing the day’s work and planning for the next day’s chores. They stopped and looked at each other, feeling the distress in the small bedroom a bit away from them. “You feel that?” Rey asked him, “Yeah.” Ben answered. Rey sighed, “You think I should go check on her?” Rey asked. “You’re asking me?” Rey sighed, “Well, yes… I am asking you.” Ben thought a moment letting the Force speak to him, “I think you should.” Rey nodded, “You’re right.” 

She stood up from the kitchen table and made her way over to Zorii’s room. She gently knocked on the door. “Just a minute,” Zorii tried to quickly clean her face up. Rey knew what she was feeling, she had felt that way before. Alone. Zorii opened the door, “Oh hey Rey, was about to knock out, where is the boyfriend?” Rey was taken aback at the mention of Ben as her boyfriend. “Ben is just planning for tomorrow,” she said, “Are you okay?” Zorii quickly answered, “Yeah… why wouldn’t I be?” Rey knew she was putting on a front. “Talked to Poe, did you?” Rey asked. Zorii opened the door, inviting her in. Zorii sighed moving to the bed as Rey walked in shutting the door behind her. “He said Maz and Chewie want to come to visit because they have a grand idea on how to protect Ben,” Zorii rolled her eyes. Rey sat on the edge of the bed, “Protect Ben?” Zorii nodded, “Looks like they are going to try to resurrect the Senate, which of course you know I think is just drukk!” “How would that protect him? I don’t get it,” Rey said. “Ben is the heir to Leia Organa Solo’s senate seat,” Zorii started to explain, “he’d be under the protection of the Republic. Any Senator that is killed in the line of duty is temporarily replaced by an heir or former Senator until they can hold proper elections.” Rey’s mouth parted, “So what you are saying is that if the Republic is reformed, that Ben would be a Senator?” “Yes,” Zorii said before continuing, “it would make him untouchable to the Resistance and to the First Order, not that they wouldn’t try, it would just be harder.” Zorii grinned thankful that Rey wasn’t pushing her about Poe. “Well, that’s an angle. So, how’s Poe?” Rey asked. Zorii spoke too soon. “I’d rather not talk about it,” she said. “What do you most regret?” Rey asked. “That I didn’t kill him before he swindled me out of 30,000 credits?” Zorii said. Rey gave her a look she didn’t believe her, “Really Zorii?” The air almost went out of the room between them. Zorii sighed, “You don’t understand, my mother gave me a choice… her or Poe. One is living, the other isn’t.” Rey was taken back. “Yeah,” Zorii said. Her eyes darted to the floor; a slight flash of guilt rushed upward in her. “I had no idea, Zorii,” Rey said scooting over to her. Zorii put her hand up, “No… no… don’t.” Zorii was not used to receiving kindness from anyone, except for Poe. She had been infatuated with a few men in her life, but she had never been in real love with anyone but Poe. Rey stopped her advance towards her, giving her some space. Rey felt in that moment all of the feelings that were a roller coaster inside Zorii, “Tell me,” she implored of Zorii and somehow she felt this secret would be safe with Rey. Rey made every effort to shut Ben out, but Ben knew the conversation would be very personal, so he shut himself off from them. Zorii proceeded to tell Rey everything. Zorii’s mother Zeva Bliss had been a criminal mastermind and had led the Spice Runners before Zorii did. Zeva had planned to execute all of her criminal allies and enemies on Kijimi under the guise of peace and prosperity to unequivocally rule the entire crime syndicate on Kijimi. When Poe had managed to thwart her plans and alert her enemies, she took aim at Poe. But before she could kill Poe, Zorii stopped her. Zorii, taking leadership of the Spice Runners now, had also offered her mother up to Poe to execute her for her crimes, which Poe could not bring himself to do. But the crew had seen that as a weakness in him, it was their way, the Runners Code. Zorii wouldn’t be taken seriously if she stayed with him now, so she urged Poe to keep their relationship a secret while publicly banishing him from the crew. Zeva had been taken away to a Prisoner Ship off-world, but she managed to escape. She vowed to kill Poe Dameron and retake her ownership of the Spice Runners. But what Zeva didn’t count on was that Zorii was an exceptional leader, a shrewd negotiator, a brilliant pilot, and a complete natural with a blaster. She had no idea that her daughter and her arch-nemesis had fallen in love, so she didn’t see it coming when she broke into Poe’s old ship waiting for the young pilot to return and assassinate him. What she found when she did was he was not alone, Zorii was with him. And she watched her daughter and Poe give themselves completely to each other. Zeva thought her daughter had betrayed her too and had resolved to kill them both. When she attacked, she went straight for Poe first. Zorii shot her dead at Poe’s feet. If anyone had been made aware of this because of the Runner’s Code, Zorii’s leadership of the gang would have to transfer to Poe, but Poe did not want anything to do with it. He just wanted her. So together they got rid of her mother’s body and kept it all a secret. The weight of that fact took its toll on them. At some point Poe was broke because he couldn’t work in Kijimi as a former crew member, he kept asking her to marry him, run away with him, and to hell with the Runners and all of it. “… and I did the exact opposite, I told him there was no way I was turning my back on it all, and I ran. Ran away. He waited for me for 7 months before he left along with the crew’s entire bank credits.” Rey’s eyes had welled up and by now they formed streaks on her cheeks. “I am so sorry, Zorii,” Rey said with her voice cracking. The emotions were raw for both ladies. “I gave up on him,” Zorii continued her own eyes stained red and wiping the tears from her face, “but he never gave up on me.” Rey couldn’t help herself, moved in close to her friend and just wrapped her arms around her hugging her tight, “then don’t be a fool twice, Zorii. I know he still loves you; you must know it too.” Small sobs now fell from Zorii and she let go, hugging Rey back. The two of them cried together.

Ben had taken a seat outside in the dead of night. The winds were gentle, and it lightly tossed his hair around. He was staring up at the three moons of Tatooine. Ben felt it, while he wouldn’t pry, he of course felt Rey’s emotions. His own eyes filling with tears, he looked across the farm, his eyes locking on the _Falcon_. Just then, BB-8 rolled upon him, which startled him. He may never get used to droids having so much reign around him. BB-8 gave Ben a few sad beeps, “I don’t understand you, little guy,” Ben said to him. BB-8 chimed a few questioning beeps, Ben wiping at his eyes a bit, stood up. BB-8 started for the _Falcon_ , stopping, and urging Ben forward with him. His encouraging beeps of course landing on deaf ears. Ben chuckled, I guess he understood Rey’s fascination with the droid. The two of them made it over to the _Falcon_. The hatch opens again, just like it had before as if it recognized Ben Solo as its rightful owner now. BB-8 led him up to the comms station, where he again let out some encouraging beeps, he plugged himself into the droid socket. He quickly found some footage that Han Solo kept in his personal files. He then projected the footage out so that Ben could see. 

Before his eyes was his father, Han Solo, giving a tour of the _Falcon_ to a few strangers he did not recognize. Han was giving the specs of the ship, “… the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs; you’ll find no better ship. She’s been a great home to me and will be to you.” The woman asked, “General Solo, we cannot understand why you would want to sell this ship. It’s pretty iconic! What is the motivation for wanting to sell it now?” Han’s face changed, suddenly forlorn, “Ever had regrets so deep that you cannot take them back? My biggest regret was choosing a life on this ship over my son. Now it’s too late, I think, and at every nook and cranny of this ship all I see is my boy’s smiling face. And my heart breaks into a million pieces,” Han replied. The man that had accompanied the woman drew a gun to the back of Han’s head and said, “Ohhh that’s so sweet but I think I will be taking this ship anyways.” The woman now drawing her own blaster towards Han, he said to them, “Isn’t this fitting?” Han chuckled, “Take it. All of it.” He threw the keys at the woman and then walked out. The man that stole Han’s ship was Gannis Ducain. BB-8 gave Ben some happy beeps as if he was saying, “See, he did love you.” Ben who had been reduced to tears at what he witnessed seemed to answer BB-8, “Yeah, he did.”


	5. Chapter 4: Return to the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben Solo battles his demons to reconcile the pain and suffering he knows he caused others, most especially the ones that mean the most to Rey. He resolves to try to make things right. 
> 
> Finn meets Ben Solo. Finn both forgives and learns from Ben about the Force and how the Sith operated and what could be facing his struggling Resistance. 
> 
> Rey goes to find Zorii to urge her to return to Tatooine with her. She takes Finn's small ship not wanting to use the Falcon since it was still supporting Ben and now Finn as he stayed overnight. 
> 
> Poe, on the other hand, is not receptive to anything that does not include prison time for Ben Solo / Kylo Ren. But he at least shares the story of his and Zorii’s past with Finn.

## The Falcon

Rey searched for Ben after seeing Zorii fall asleep. She had felt his own anguish. As she went outside, in the distance the three moons of Tatooine lit up the sky with a glow that made the sands dance with a tinge of energy. She felt that Ben was in the _Falcon_ , his father’s ship. She moved towards it; the ramp was down. She walked in to see Ben playing by himself on the holochess table in the main hold. A sadness overcame her, and she knew it was his sadness, “Hey, what are you doing here?” Ben looked up, giving her a small smile, “Nothing, just toying with this old thing,” he pointed to the holochess table. Rey moved to sit by his side. “I’ve spent quite a while on this ship and I honestly never got the jest of this game. I remember Chewie winning, a lot. But against Poe and Finn, that’s not incredibly hard,” she chuckled trying to lighten his spirits. His eyes locked on her, his hand instinctively moving to her left knee. He was protective of her; in ways he hadn’t ever been before. “Zorii asked about my boyfriend,” Rey broke the silence when she saw her joke wasn’t landing well. She laid her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head before confirming her status in his heart, “You’re more than that.” She placed her hand on his right inner thigh, letting it find a home there. “Are you thinking about Han?” she asked, being done with the pleasantries. “Yes, but I don’t have to tell you that, right?” He let out a forced chuckle. “It was like that for me too, every time I stepped on board here, for a while,” she said being as honest as possible. “He wasn’t my father, but he had been the first real adult I had ever interacted with, I pictured my own father might have been around his age,” she put her chin on the shoulder she had rested her head to get a good look at the man she loved. Her face was so familiar to him now, they’re emotions being set free in carnal pleasure only the day before, he felt different. He didn’t feel like he was just looking at his girlfriend, she was a part of him in every way.

He smiled at her, “Do you remember them? Your parents?” He asked. She sighed. “I didn’t for the longest time until you forced the memories of them to return.” Ben clasped her hand in between his own, he looked down at them. “They wanted to keep you safe, and they loved each other,” he said. “I remember my mother had my eyes, hazel green, and brown hair like me. My father’s eyes were blue, blond hair. So, I suppose I look more like her,” she said, “and yes they loved each other, died together on Ochi’s ship.” Ben’s eyes were filled with sadness, “When I said they were filthy junk tr----” Rey put a finger to his lips not letting him finish, “They were junk traders because that’s what would allow them to stay hidden and at bare minimum survive. And they did sell me to Unkar Plutt out of desperation. Anyone else would have thought the same,” Rey said to him. Ben’s eyes started to tear up, his thoughts were of his own parents, how and where he was raised, which was such a stark contrast to how she was raised, he said to her, “And you are not nothing, Rey. You are everything.” She smiled looking up at him, “I don’t mind being nothing to anyone else but you,” she stroked his cheek with her free hand. Ben wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her even closer and whispered in her ear, “You’re everything to me.” She looked into his eyes and kissed him softly finally feeling like she belonged to someone. It made her feel complete. “Apparently, you’re now my boyfriend,” she said softly. He smiled fully, “I guess I am, but I don’t intend to stay your boyfriend,” he said to her. “Breaking up with me already?” She mused with him. “No, not ever, but you will be my wife,” Ben stated very matter-of-factly. “Oh my, by the Force, I never thought I’d be that to anyone,” she said. The thought of it slightly terrified her. “Sith, and well Jedi for that matter, are not allowed to have a wife or husband,” he said. “Why ever not?” She inquired. “I don’t really know,” Ben said, “something about attachments being leading to the Dark side.” She thought about that. “They could never do that to us,” Rey said with a smile thinking that they just would never be apart long enough for anyone to try. “No, because we’d resurrect each other,” Ben chuckled in a half-joking kind of way. It was true though; they had done just that. Rey had pulled Ben back from the grasp of the Force, where he had fully dematerialized to. “Regardless, we’d just unleash the full fury of our Dyad,” Rey said and chuckled right back to him. Ben nodded in agreement, also smiling. Whatever laid ahead of them, they would face together. 

“Well, someone’s going to have to teach me how to play holochess,” Rey stated. Ben laughed, “I must say I am pretty good at that.” “Oh, because there is something you’re not good at? Shocking,” Rey said with a sarcastic tone to her voice. Immediately Ben blushed, smiling once again. She had made his sadness all but completely fade, if but for a few minutes. “Well, just so you know, Rey, I could list at least ten things I am absolutely horrible at,” Ben said. She laughed and Ben delighted in watching her face as she did. “I don’t believe that for one instant. That would be all too human of you,” she winked at him. Was she flirting? A sudden flush filled Ben, “are you flirting with me?” She smiled coquettishly, “Maybe.” Ben pulled her up on his lap in one swift motion that seemed effortless for him, it startled her a bit. “But we have a guest,” Ben said. Rey put an arm around him, grabbing his chin with her free hand, she moved in to kiss him. Softly at first, then fully. His arms wrapped around her waist; he kissed her back with just as much passion. Every part of him loved her, and his desire grew hungry underneath her. Rey stopped all of the sudden, looking at him. Her feelings were the exact same, every part of her loved him. She shimmied off his lap and moved around the holochess table to get up, holding his hand, and pulling him towards her. He obliged. When he stood up, he, as usual, towered over her, she led him to the back to the main crew quarters of the ship. This was Han’s old room and memories flooded Ben of his father and his mother, he stopped at the door which locked the door into the open position. Rey looked back at him, still holding his hand. He pulled her to him, kissing her again. “I think that it would be a little weird to do this here, for me,” he said softly. She walked backwards, slowly letting go of his hand. She stood there in front of him, she started to take her hair out of its normal style, letting it drape to her shoulders, “I believe they would be happy to see us here, together, committed to each other, dancing in the light and in the shadows, finding the balance that the Force so desperately seeks,” she said with her eyes set ablaze with desire. He thought how poetic she was with her words in that moment. She slowly started to remove her clothes, piece by piece. He watched her, intently, eyes scanning every curve of her face, the drape of her neck, her shoulders, her breasts which were now unrestrained, her hips, the muscle tone under her skin from all the fighting they had done in their young lives, her legs… she was now completely naked. 

“You are beautiful,” he said. Her hazel green eyes sparkled in the dim light of the cabin, his breath more pronounced, the desire deep inside her wanting his lips, his hands… all of him. “So are you,” she said. He stepped into the quarters, the door shutting behind him, he stood over her as she wrapped both arms around his neck. He stared at her, his heart on fire and his desire very evident against her body. They kiss again, passionately. She slips her fingers under his tunic, pulling it out of his pants and over his head, his long hair tussling about at the effort. He brought a hand to her face, tracing his finger from her eyebrow down her nose, settling on her lips. He kissed her softly, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around her waist. He opened his eyes to lock on her stare, and slowly moved his lips to her neck. She retreated, leading him closer to the double bunk. She sat on the bunk and he put both hands on the shelf above it. She worked to undo his pants, they slid down to the floor, she ran both hands up his torso, the ribs that had been broken at the hands of her grandfather had been completely healed. She put both of her hands, palm down, on his chest. She looked up at him with burning desire. He stepped out of his pants, kicking them away. His eyes locked on hers. His thoughts lingered on how much like a woman she looked to him now and wondered if he looked different to her as well, “You do,” she confirmed in a whisper. “I do?” He asked as he crawled into the bunk on top of her as she repositioned herself flat on it. She nodded, no longer able to form words. Her breathing erratic and full of yearning. She unfurled her legs waiting to receive him. Her hands ran up his back gently and slowly, finding their home in his wild black hair. She pulled him to her neck, he kissed it feverishly making his way to her lips, locking on to them. He positioned himself at the heart of her womanly essence, finding it warm, moist, and inviting. Any reluctance he had felt at making love in this ship had stripped away the moment he entered her slowly, with care, letting her body adjust to him. She arched her back a bit, moaning, tilting her head forward biting her lower lip. He groaned in pleasure. His hands grabbing hers from around his neck, extending them above her head, fingers interlocked. He locked eyes with her, “I love you,” he whispered to her. “I love… you, too,” she replied. They spent several hours making love in the ship that _made_ him as this was surely where he was conceived. And he didn’t feel bad about it at all. She once again was showing him the way.

## Home Unsteady

Zorii was up before the moons set; it was still dark. She packed up quickly and tip-toed around to exit the homestead. When she got outside, she took notice that the _Falcon_ was actively running, “Drukk,” she said. She had hoped she could slip away unnoticed. The _Comeuppance_ was close to the house because she had not been the one to land it technically, but if she started it up, they’d definitely notice from the _Falcon_. The emotions inside her were drilling holes in her heart. She couldn’t believe she had told Rey her entire story, including how she had felt and still feels about Poe. It caused her to feel like she had to flee. And that’s exactly what she was doing. She wouldn’t return to the base in Crait, she didn’t know where she would go, but hopefully, somewhere she can send a message to the crew. But she couldn’t go back to Crait. She went to lower the step ladder to hop into her cockpit, and she hoped whoever was inside the _Falcon_ wouldn’t hear it. She thought it may be Ben Solo, and she did not want to run into him because she still very much wanted to kill him. But he was definitely good to Rey and she needed it. Zorii could relate because she needed the same thing if only she wouldn’t run away from it. She put all her stuff in and started the engine, if she hurried whoever was inside would only catch the tail end of her ship.

Ben startled awake at the sound of roaring engines which in turn woke Rey up. “Maybe the alarms failed again!” Ben said as he moved to quickly dress. Rey followed his lead. “I don’t feel anything hostile, but stay here,” Ben told her. “I am going with you,” Rey demanded. “Fine! Stay behind me, please,” he snapped quickly. Rey tossed him her lightsaber because his was inside. He caught it, clicking it into his belt as he fastened it. He slipped into his boots and dashed outside. When he got there, he looked up to see the backlights of Zorii’s ship. That was odd to him. **_“It was Zorii, she left,”_** Ben sent Rey the message through their Force Bond. A feeling of bewilderment overcame Rey, which Ben sensed, she sent back, ** _“That doesn’t make any sense.”_** Ben slowed his breathing, channeling the Force to extend his sight. Rey was on her way off the ramp when she caught sight of Ben, she then felt it. 

She wondered if she could see through his eyes. **_“Try it,”_** Ben sent her a message. **_“I wouldn’t even know how,”_** Rey replied. ** _“Breathe. Focus on my eyes,”_** Ben instructed her. She closed her eyes; she pictured his eyes, the color, the emotion, the love she saw in them when he looked at her, and then all of the sudden, she was seeing and feeling everything he was. She had never felt anything like that in her whole life. **_“Wow, Rey,”_** he sent her the message confirming the greatness of that moment. **_“I can see everything; can you feel what I am feeling?”_** She asked him. ** _“Yes, I can,”_** he answered in pure astonishment. **_“Could we combine our powers?”_** She asked timidly. **_“I don’t know, let’s try,”_** Ben said elated, he was in awe of what he was seeing and feeling. **_“Okay, how?”_** She asked him. **_“I honestly do not know,”_** he said to her and he was always honest with her. He thought for a minute. **_“Let’s picture something together; a string. And you are at one end, and I am on the other. But it’s a long string, too long. We desperately want to make the distance between us shorter, so we slowly move towards each other until two become one,”_** he sent over his instructions to her over their Force Bond. She nodded but he couldn’t see her. However, he did feel her, and she knew that. 

She pictured this string and pictured herself at one end, him at the other. And they slowly started to move towards each other. Rey and Ben were in complete sync. As the string got shorter and shorter, their power increased that much more in both of them. When they were facing each other in this vision, they stared at each other. Both Ben and Rey could extend their Force Vision powers to more than double the distance that Ben alone could go before. They could see and touch the stars, feeling the Force, looking for Zorii. They both locked on her, she was crying. She felt fear, doubt. **_“Alone,”_** Ben said to Rey through their Force Bond. **_“Yes. It’s abandonment,”_** Rey said. ** _“She’s running away,”_** Ben observed and sent back over. **_“Kriff, Zorii really?”_** Rey stated rhetorically and then followed up with a question, **_“Okay how do we stop the Force union thingy?”_** Ben would answer her to the best of his abilities, **_“Think of where you were standing and surroundings around it before we started.”_** He instructed her; at least that part he knew of. Rey nodded again. They both concentrated on the place they were standing. And as if a saber had cut through the string, they had landed from their newly found dyad power.

They immediately looked at each other, Ben felt it. He rushed over to her. Rey stumbled and would drop right into Ben’s arms. “Kriff!” Ben shouted. He was noticeably tired, but he did his best to bring Rey inside and laid her on the bed in his old room. He was breathing hard and laid his head on the edge of the bed. She came suddenly to and exclaimed, “Ben!” He immediately raised his head, “I am here.” He said as he clasped her hand in his own. “Let’s not do that again,” he stated. “Yeah, that… has a cost,” she said. “There are efforts of our powers,” he said still catching his breath before continuing, “that are very costly. I’ll have to be better at recognizing that.”

She gently rubbed her thumb in the palm of his hand. “I have to message Finn and Poe, Poe especially,” Rey said. “Stay, rest… I’ll go get a commlink,” Ben said to her as he moved towards the kitchen where they kept the commlinks. He’d need a bit of rest himself, he thought. “Yes, sit here with me,” Rey said as she scooted over. Ben handed her the commlink as he took a seat next to her. She quickly turned it on, flipping to a channel. She left them a message about Zorii. She still felt dizzy, so she squirmed herself flat on the bed. No sooner she got comfortable, the commlink was beeping. “Poe.” Rey shot back up to a sitting position. “Rey. Where is she?” Poe asked. “I don’t know, she snuck out and took off. We tried to scan for her, all we could tell is she was crying and fleeing,” Rey was trying to answer. “Wait? What? Wait? Did you say fleeing?” Poe asked. “Yes, she’s running away,” Rey answered. “Goddammit, Zorii!!! Please don’t do this, don’t.” Poe’s voice was imploring, and he fell silent for a second or two. “Poe?” Rey asked. “Yeah,” he answered. “It will be alright, I promise. Send Finn here with an unmarked ship,” Rey instructed. Another moment of silence would pass before Poe acknowledged, “Yeah.” Poe disconnected.

Rey sighed. “I think I messed up.” Ben looked at her, “Why?” She laid her head on his shoulder, “I might have accidentally caused Zorii to split open.” Ben reached to her hand, grabbing the commlink, setting it on top of an old metal-smithed desk, handmade. He turned back to her, “You need rest. What we just did out there, while amazing, isn’t easy for someone that didn’t grow up with the Force.” Rey slouched back down the bed, flipping over on her side to put her head on his chest. “I am desperately spent,” Rey admitted. “I will keep an eye on the commlink if she calls or they call,” Ben said to her wrapping his arms around her. He made an effort to shield his thoughts from her. His mind was racing thinking about the events just before this, how they could couple their powers to amplify their effectiveness. While effective in very specific situations, without training, it would render her incapacitated. It had affected even him, and he had trained for a lot longer than she had. She will need to build up that stamina, she’d need to be trained. He had never had a padawan or apprentice of his own. This would be new territory. All too- familiar feelings rose like old friends --- doubt, fear, anxiety, distrust. Just to name a few. He shut his eyes, he started to think of opposite emotions to those he was feeling. What would Rey be feeling? Confidence, calmness, serenity, faith. Balance, Ben thought to himself thinking of the teachings of his uncle Luke. He felt himself return to the steady version of himself that was in balance with the Force. To him, he had never felt like himself on either side of the Force. But this, with Rey, he feels like the truest version of himself he has ever felt. Silently he thought of Zorii, the harm the First Order had done to her homeworld, all the people that were displaced, he wanted to apologize for all of it. Balance. He drifted slowly into sleep.

The commlink started to beep, waking them both up. Rey reached over Ben to grab it off the desk. She sat back up and flicked it on, “Finn?” She waited, “Yeah, it’s me. I am about an hour away. On a scale of one to ten, how hot is it there?” Rey chuckled before stating where Tatooine sat on her scale, “Two-hundred!” Finn sighed, “I have a bad feeling about this.” He clicked off the commlink. She looked at Ben, “You okay?” Ben nodded. He would have to face her friends sooner or later. And this one especially, he was not looking forward to, like at all. He did almost kill him. Rey had crawled over him to her feet. “I am going to use the refresher in the _Falcon_ ,” she said to him. He looked at her, “Okay.” She pecked him on his lips. He smiled wide at her. She turned to make her way to the _Falcon_ since they had not tested the plumbing throughout the entire house yet. Ben was going to do that today, so he might as well start. As he moved towards the refresher, across it was the room where Zorii had stayed. He went in there, he closed his eyes, he slowed his breathing, using the Force to sense the echoes. He was looking for any clue that he could pick up as to where she might have run to. He picked up something, not Kijimi of course, but close to it… she wanted to get a signal…. to the crew. He’d be sure to tell Rey. He exited that room and took a look to his left, Luke’s old room. He was tempted to go in but felt he didn’t have the right to do so. He faced forward and went into the refresher. He saw to the toilet, there was sand in it. He’d have to find a way to deal with all the sand inside the house. He used the Force to at least remove it from the toilet. It scattered everywhere. He really wasn’t good at this. He turned on the faucet, it was barely dripping. He left it on to see the pipes would eventually clear out some of the sand. This tiny refresher just had a shower in it, so he turned it on and that also was having some flow issues. He left that on as well. He was bad at this. He heard loud clanging coming from the sink and the water exploded out of it, settling in a more apt rhythm but not before water going everywhere. He was now soaked. “Great!” He was _really_ bad at this. He sighed turning off the sink. There was now sand and water mixing together under his boots. “The Force has a funny way of telling me, I need a bath.” He said out loud. He left the shower going for a bit to see if it would clear out, preferably without him near it. He exited the refresher and looked to his right, Luke’s room again. He dared himself to go in, he might find some towels or something. The room was as his uncle had left it when he formed the new Jedi temple. Like it was instinct he knew where to look in first. He found towels still neatly folded. As he dried himself off, he looked around and flashes of memories filled his mind. Clearly, his guilt was determined to win him over to the Dark Side again. He removed his wet shirt and was drying off his hair. He heard another loud clang come from the refresher and a rush of water went everywhere. He grabbed towels. As he turned the corner, the showerhead, old and rusty, had popped right out of the wall. He felt Rey’s concern at the loud noise. ** _“It’s alright, just broken plumbing,”_** he sent her a message. **_“Are you okay?”_** Rey asked as she turned the corner to see water everywhere and poor Ben Solo drenched and shirtless. “It’s fine… its fine,” Ben said with frustration, “don’t come in here, you’ll slip and fall.” Rey thought to herself, there was that protectiveness again. She found it endearing. 

She closed her eyes, breathing slowly evoking his Force powers. She followed the sound of the water, to see where she might be able to turn it off. He sensed her as she did this. She whispered, “I am a drop of water.” He turned to watch her, no longer panicked, or frustrated, but in awe. She whispered again, “I am a drop of water.” He joined her rhythmic breathing now, if she could use his powers, could he use hers? He tried it. After a few seconds, nope. Nothing. “I am a drop of water,” she repeated again and again, and she felt herself become one with the water, almost like taking it over. She followed the flow all the way to the point of origin, which was outside far and away from where they were now. She then used the Force to essentially turn the knob to an off position; all the water to the dwelling suddenly came to a stop. Ben’s eyes widened. She opened her eyes, to see him staring at her. “Wow… how?” He asked. “I cannot explain it, it’s like almost taking a living energy over,” she answered him. “I’ve never seen anyone do that, Jedi or Sith,” there he was with his honesty again. “Are you okay? Feel okay?” He asked her. “Yes, that I’ve had some practice with,” she smiled at him and he smiled back. She looked at him, thinking how beautiful he looked to her. It reminded him of their infamous duel on Kef Bir, a tinge of sadness befell her, but looking at him made it all disappear. “I’ll look for some clothes,” she said and moved past him into Luke’s bedroom. “The tall cabinet on your left,” Ben directed her. She looked, finding it. She grabbed more towels. “Shirts would be where?” She asked him, as he made his way to the dresser opposite the bed, and he stopped a minute looking at something that caught his attention. 

Ben would choke up immediately, his eyes locked on a digital frame with rotating images. And the first one had been a picture Leia took of Luke and a very young Ben Solo; followed by a group shot of Luke and Han with the same young Ben hoisted up between them, to a picture of him a little bit older standing with Leia and Han. Ben broke down in sobs, falling to the floor. Rey was standing behind him; she had felt all of it with him. She moved over to the dresser, looking at the frame. He had been a smiling little boy in all these pictures. She picked it up and placed it face down before turning to drop to her knees and hug Ben. He tensed up at first, all of this sharing was new to him --- very new. Rey held for a minute in a slight hug before he looked at her. Sobs now fell freely from this thirty-year-old man that had been so incredibly manipulated and tormented with memories of his family that didn’t seem to add up, but the truth hurt more than the lie. She wiped his tears away and whispered to him, “I love you, Ben. Forever.” Kissing him slightly, he finally relaxed and let her hug him tightly. He returned the hug, sobbing uncontrollably. She stroked his hair softly, with kindness, giving him everything he needed in that moment. They stayed there for a good ten minutes.

## Awkward

Just as Finn broke the atmosphere on the planet, he sensed a great stir in the Force. Guilt, shame, regret, realization. He knew these conflicting emotions weren’t coming from Rey. All of a sudden he felt bad for Ben Solo, after all, he had been in his shoes as a defector before. He flicked on the comms on his ship and hailed the _Falcon_ , “Falcon Wing, this is Traitor One, come in.” He waited a bit. Rey replied, “Loud and clear, Finn.” Finn smiled and said, “Landing in 10, over and out.” He had her coordinates, making his way to them. As he got closer, he spotted the _Falcon_. Rey was standing outside with a hand over her eyes shielding them from the harsh twin suns. Compared to the size of the _Falcon_ , his ship looked more like a deluxe escape pod. Finn spotted space just behind the _Falcon_ to park. He ran to hug his friend. She was a little bit damp from hugging Ben so tightly just minutes before, but Finn didn’t much notice. She motioned to her tunic and said, “Sorry! We’re trying to get the water going again in this old place, but it’s not been easy. Something tells me that this may not be one of Ben’s strong suit,” she smiled at Finn who smiled back. “They had droids for that in the First Order,” he said and chuckled. He put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes, he asked, “Okay so how are you, really? It’s been a lot.” Rey gave him a small smile, “Enlightening.” She wasn’t one to lie to anyone. “Ohhh, I bet,” Finn said giving her a wide smug smile and a raise of an eyebrow. Rey immediately blushed and shyly exclaimed, “Finnnnnnn! I didn’t mean like that, by the Force!” Finn laughed. “So, ummm yes or no?” He inquired. “I am not telling you anything,” Rey replied, her cheeks bright red. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Finn stated with a smile while Rey scoffed. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her like this, if ever. He liked it.

Ben had managed to change; his hair was still wet, however. He had managed to reel his emotions back in and Rey had helped him in that effort. He stepped outside of the front entrance of the dwelling. Crossing his arms leaning on the wall, he looked at the interaction between Rey and Finn. He was a bit jealous of it and part of him had always been, especially seeing them together at Starkiller Base. Rey and Finn stopped, both looking over to where Ben was standing. Finn’s face showed the shock in it at the look of Kylo Ren dressed in normal, at least normal to them, clothing. “Oh wow,” he managed to exclaim. “Yeah,” Rey said, “he has that effect. Come.” 

Rey led her friend over towards the house. Ben pushed off the edge of the wall to stand straight, he was fidgeting with the pockets of his pants, finally resting each thumb in the two pockets. Rey felt how nervous he was, she looked at him and smiled. “Finn, meet Ben Solo. Ben… Finn.” Rey said to both of them, introducing them to each other even though they were not strangers by any means. But it felt right to Finn. “Hey,” Finn said first. Ben smiled nervously at him. He knew Finn was a big part of Rey’s life; that all her friends meant a lot to her. It was the kind of person she was. It’s what he loved about her. “Hey,” Ben answered. “Well that was awkward,” Rey said. Finn looked at her, “Would you rather me go….” He turned to Ben, “Hey, thanks for not killing me with your lightsaber, really appreciate it, man!” Finn tried to keep a straight face, forcefully holding back the laughter rising in him. “FINN!” Rey would exclaim as her mouth dropped open. Finn finally burst out laughing, then Rey joined in. Ben was rendered speechless to all but a slight chuckle and a small smile. Finn then extended a hand to Ben, “Nice to meet the _real_ you; I’m Finn.” He took Finn’s hand and shook it. The kindness radiating from someone that he had done real harm to was inspiring to Ben. Finn should hate him, but he didn’t. He was able to see him as Ben Solo and not Kylo Ren. His faith in Rey was true and he admired him for it. Ben never had many friends growing up in almost complete solitude. The only friends he really had in his youth were his uncles and aunts, people like Chewie, Luke, Harter, Maz, and C-3PO, which he was often left with as his mother was on Senate business. He didn’t know exactly what that would even look like, but he knew Finn was that to Rey. 

Rey motioned for everyone to come in and out of the harsh heat. “By midday, it becomes unbearable here,” Rey said. Finn replied, “Oh, I can definitely tell. I don’t know how Luke Skywalker lived here for all those years.” Rey added, “And I am from a desert planet, but this is a whole other kind of hot.” Rey led them to the kitchen table where Ben and Finn both took a seat, she went to get water but then remembered she had turned it all off. “Shoot, right, we turned the water off,” she said. Ben stood up and stated, “I’ll get more water from the _Falcon_.” Rey nodded and replied, “Okay but we’ll run out if we keep using the _Falcon’s_ supply.” “I will look into it all when I come back,” Ben acknowledged before heading for the exit of the house. Finn watched as Ben left the area, he returned his gaze to Rey, who was already meeting it. “He heals well, doesn’t he. No scars? No bruises? Nothing?” Finn asked. “Nope. All gone,” Rey said. “You did that?” Finn asked rhetorically. “Yes,” Rey replied. “So, like the vexis in Pasaana?” Finn continued with questions. Rey nodded, “Yes, but it comes with a cost.” Finn nodded and stated, “Nothing is ever truly without one, right?” Rey smiled; it was true. “It renders me completely exhausted, often passing out depending on how much I have to heal.” Rey searched Finn’s face, “Are you scared of it?” She asked. Finn sighed, “We’ve never talked about it, haven’t really had that chance with destroying Palpatine and saving the galaxy from tyrannical rule and all that.” Rey smiled before asking, “Is that what you wanted to tell me? In the sand pits on Pasaana?” Finn nodded and answered, “Yes.” Rey smiled wider and said, “I knew it already.” Finn sighed and said, “It scares me. And then I think if it scares me, and I’ve seen it be used by not just you but,” Finn thumbed towards the general direction where Ben was, “I think it must scare any young child born with it.” Rey nodded, “Was it always there for you?” Finn paused a bit, “Yes, for as long as I can remember.” Rey looked at her friend, “Not for me, not until Takodana when I touched the lightsaber.” Finn nodded, “It was triggered, probably. So, there may be children that never know they have it until it's triggered in some way.” 

Ben was walking back into the house with a gallon of water in hand. He had caught the tail end of the conversation. Finn looked to him, “Question, did you feel the Force from very small?” Finn asked him, Ben paused and then nodded, “Yes, don’t remember ever not feeling it.” Rey took the gallon and poured water for all of them, putting the gallon in the cooling unit of the kitchen. “Me too,” Finn said. Ben realized Finn was opening up about the fact that he was force-sensitive, a fact Ben already knew. “But Rey didn’t feel it until we were at Maz Kanata’s old castle,” Finn added. Ben pondered that castle. How many times had he gone there as a child? A hundred. Probably more. It occurred to him that he now knew more about the Force than anyone left alive as far as he knew. He took a seat, “It’s not always from birth,” he said. Finn turned to him curiously asking, “So, it can be triggered by something or someone?” Ben nodded and responded to Finn, “Yes, it can lay dormant forever or the opposite of that, it can fade over time.” Rey looked to Ben and would add, “I think it was the Skywalker Saber that triggered it for me.” Ben acknowledged that fact to Rey, “My grandfather was speaking to you.” Finn looked between them, “Ohhh, that saber belonged to Darth Vader?” They both looked at Finn and Rey answered, “It belonged to Anakin Skywalker, as far as I know before he turned into Darth Vader. He probably had another lightsaber as a Sith Lord.” Finn nodded accepting that the saber he had fought Kylo Ren with had belonged to the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Finn asked, “How is it that the two of you had been so… attracted to each other then?” Rey answered him, “Sometimes Light seeks Dark…” Ben would finish her sentence, “… and Dark seeks Light.” Finn looked between them, he felt the power that tingled in the air between his friend and until that moment who he had considered his enemy and all he could think to say is, “Balance.” Rey and Ben both looked at him.

“I’ve got so many questions,” Finn said. Rey looked to Ben, “Understandable.” Then she looked back to Finn. “We are part of a dyad in the Force, Finn.” Rey declared. “A what? What is that?” Finn asked. Rey looked to Ben, shrugged. Ben thought for a moment, “As I had studied before, a dyad is one energy in the Force that is split into two physical beings. There had only been one known such dyad in the archives I studied, back around 3600 BBY,” Ben answered them. Finn asked quite visibly confused, “Almost four thousand years ago? That’s when it was last mentioned?” Rey was just as stunned. Ben nodded, looking intently at Rey. “And when you say studied, studied how?” Finn questioned. “We had recovered the archives from the old Empire, so I had access to that. But I used to study old Jedi texts before there was only a handful left of them. Back from before,” Ben said. “Before you decided to turn to the Dark?” Finn asked innocently. Rey chimed in, “He was subjugated to it.” Ben looked to her and corrected her, “No, I chose it because it was part of me. I never felt like I belonged in the Light, so the Dark naturally called to me. After I learned of my grandfather’s fate in a very public way, I felt lied to and betrayed by my parents. It was easy to think that they were the reason I felt so out of place. But after committing to the Dark side, even if it feels wrong and you still do not feel like you belong there, it’s so easy to allow yourself to be…” he searched for the word. “Enslaved,” Rey reiterated. He now got what she meant. “I guess so… I would say manipulated and distorted, but that is a form of enslavement. I just feel wrong using that word because I know so many children were literally brought into slavery. But I never really felt I belonged to either side, not completely.” Hearing Ben speak brought up some emotions in Finn, he started to tear up. Never in a million years did he think he would be sitting someplace listening to Kylo Ren pour his heart about how Snoke twisted every thought he had ever had, making him believe he couldn’t ever walk away from the Sith. “What do you know about children like me?” Finn asked. Finn shot Rey a look, but Rey didn’t meet his gaze. He returned his eyes to Ben, “Would you tell us where those children are kept?” Ben answered, “Yes, what I know of.” Finn perked an eyebrow. 

“Before the two of you start to become best friends, may I remind you the Zorii is missing,” Rey broke the brief silence. Finn looked to her, slowly peeling away his stare on Ben. He thought that what Ben had told him could be how he can start to atone for his sins, liberating enslaved children is a great start. But where would the Resistance house what was mostly to be orphaned children? He thought to himself. “I need your ship, I can’t go out there looking for her in the _Falcon_ , too recognizable,” Rey stated. “Oh, absolutely not, you shouldn’t be flying around out there in the state the galaxy is in. While many cities rose up to overtake the First Order on their planets, a lot of planets are still under the machinations of the First Order’s tyrannical rule and there will surely be a new Supreme Leader appointed. Even with the infighting, there were contingencies on everything the Sith did,” Finn retorted to Rey. Ben knew Finn was right. “What do you think, Ben?” Finn looked at Ben and asked him. He actually asked Ben what he thought; Ben couldn’t believe it. “It’s true, the Sith always have backups to the backups, Rule of Two. I never took an apprentice, so my short-lived reign in that role was more of a Rule of One. The contingency is this, if the Sith Lord is killed, the apprentice becomes the new master. The master must then find and train a new apprentice. If both perish, any Sith can take over the seat but they must be a trained Sith, and then take on an apprentice. That supports the Rule of Two,” Ben explained, and he could tell that Rey and Finn were delighted at learning the inner workings of the Sith. It was rare that a Jedi got the rundown on how leadership, or anything for that matter, works for their enemies. 

Finn asked, “How does that differ from the Jedi?” Ben replied, “The Jedi form a council of Grand Masters that are elected by the whole of all Jedi. Its democratic. The Sith deals in absolutes. So much so that 9 out of 10 times, the apprentice kills the Sith Lord they trained under. The Jedi also train en masse. Every Jedi when they become a Knight is assigned a Padawan, upon completing your first Padawan’s training, which means they become a Knight themselves, you are assigned another. Your former student, as Jedi Knight now, gets his or her own Padawan.” Finn smiled at Ben genuinely, his thoughts were racing, which Ben picked up on as did Rey. Finn rubbed his chin and stated, “You know a lot.” Ben smiled back at Finn. Rey looked between the two men and appreciated how they were getting along so far. “More than I do that’s for sure,” Rey said.

“But do you know what I do know? I know I need to go look for Zorii,” she continued. They both looked at her. “And I know we need to get this plumbing situation under control, and well I am not good at that. Give me a rocket engine and I can dismantle it, clean it, and put it back together clickity-split, but anything relating to dwellings? Uh no,” she looked to Finn. “However, didn’t you say you worked in sanitation once, Finn?” Finn nodded, “I did.” Rey looked between Finn and Ben, “Good then you can help Ben try to fix these issues, while I go look for Zorii.” Finn opened his mouth looking at Rey and before he could get the words out Ben beat him to it, “Not in the _Falcon_.” Finn looked at Ben and wondered if he was reading his mind. He turned to Rey, “That ship is too recognizable and is on an all-points bulletin by the First Order, Rey. And where would you even look?” Before Rey could even reply Ben said, “I know it is because I put it on their S&R systems. And you should go to the nearest system to where Kijimi used to be.” Finn flinched and asked the group, “What is left over there?” Rey questioned Ben, “What’s an S&R system?” Finn and Ben both said in unison, “Search and Recover”. Finn let out a slight chuckle. Ben continued, “Wobani, Smuggler’s town with a place called the Upturn, it was created out of the old Imperial Detention Center and Labor Camp LEG-817. Now it’s a hideout for smugglers.” 

Rey looked to Finn, “Keys.” Finn retorted, “I don’t think you should go alone.” Rey countered, “No, it’s too dangerous for someone that isn’t trained in the Force. And Ben cannot be seen alive, let alone alive and with me, that’s a risk I am not willing to take.” Ben looked to her, almost resenting her for that statement. “I am not saying that I don’t want to be seen with you,” Rey immediately sensed it in him, “just that right now they only know I am alive. If they see you and me together, we’d have to immediately go on the run,” she responded to his thoughts. Finn sighed, “She’s right. There would be no settling down, getting married, and having a few kids.” Rey and Ben both looked at him. “Oh, like that’s not the plan,” Finn grinned. Ben thought to himself… kids; he _never_ thought about that. Hell, just a few days ago he had never thought he’d be here with Rey. Rey countered Finn, “No, that’s not the plan, Finn.” Finn gave her a smug look, “Then what is?” he asked. “I don’t know, and that’s okay. Ben and I will figure that out, thank you very much. Right now, I need plumbing and I need Zorii to quit running away from her damn problems that are causing Poe unimaginable focus issues and not to mention be a royal pain in the rear,” Rey stated. Finn dug into his pockets, fishing out the keys to his ship, as he tossed them to Rey, “Yes, ma’am.” Rey caught them. Ben stood up, “Do me a favor?” Rey didn’t have to let him finish, “I will.” Ben nodded. Rey moved to hug him, popping a quick kiss on his lips. Finn started to shake his head, “That is going to take some getting used to.” Rey smiled and moved over to Finn, hugging him. “You two play nice, Finn ask him about your own Force-sensitivity,” Rey implored him, “he knows more than I could ever.” Rey smiled in Ben’s direction as she exited the dwelling. 

## Confessions

“Guess I am staying the night,” Finn said to Ben. “Guess so,” Ben replied. “This place is a mess,” Finn said looking around. Ben followed Finn’s gaze and said, “Yeah, far cry from the _Finalizer_ or the _Steadfast_.” Finn scoffed with a chuckle, “Right?” Ben smiled. “Well, what do we have as far as tools?” Finn asked. Ben got up finishing his water, “We got broken, dull, and nonexistent as tools.” Finn finished his own water and replied, “Great… I took down a Star Destroyer with less than that. Let’s see what the problem is.” Ben put the glasses in the sink, a flash memory popped in his head of his mother telling a young Ben to make sure he cleans up after himself while visiting his uncle Luke. Finn felt something. Rey felt more. **_“It should take me over 600 parsecs to get there in this tiny thing. I’ll probably set the autopilot on and try to sleep a bit,”_** she sent him a message to distract him a bit. **_“Not through Hutt Space, I hope,”_** he answered her. **_“No, the Triellus Trade Route,”_** she said. 

Ben moved towards the hallway. “Sorry,” Ben said to Finn. “Was Rey ‘speaking’ to you?” Finn asked, making air quotes with his fingers. Ben nodded, “yes.” Finn followed him to the small refresher that was the point of origin for his emotional breakdown right before Finn landed. Water was everywhere. “I see you turned off the source,” Finn asked. Ben nodded. “Looks like a blowout, normal when pipes aren’t used for a while and you finally force pressure through whatever got caught in there,” Finn was looking at the busted showerhead. “I think we can fix that, but we should blow out the pipes first from the inside out,” he concluded. Ben asked, “How do you do that?” Finn thought a moment, “We could use the _Falcon’s_ vacuum, thrown in reverse. But we’d have to get it really close because the hose won’t reach.” Ben immediately said, “We can hover the _Falcon_ over the courtyard.” Finn flinched, “What? We’d need three people; one to turn on the vacuum, one to keep an eye on the vacuum hose inside the house, and one to pilot the _Falcon_ because with the ramp open it won’t go on autopilot.” Ben said, “I can pilot it from anywhere, so I can turn on the vacuum if you could keep an eye out on the inside connection to the main pipe in the kitchen sink.” Finn gave him a crazy look and dared to ask, “You can do that? I mean it’s a freighter… like a whole freighter.” Ben nodded, “Yup.” Finn whistled, “Okay now that’s impressive!”

Ben walked back to the kitchen area to grab the keycard to the _Falcon_ as Finn headed outside. Ben tucked it in his pocket and joined Finn outside, “Let’s drag out the vacuum to see how long the hose is, so I can gauge how low I need to be.” Finn nodded following Ben, “Hey um, how do you use the Force for anything other than just a feeling that’s like a tickle on the back of your neck?” Ben sighed hard, “Ouff that’s a loaded question, but that is a good description of it. I could teach you; I mean I know I am probably the last person you’d want to teach you anything,” he said as he inserted the keycard into the side and lowered the hatch to his father’s ship. Finn asked another question, “Is it weird to you to see this thing?” He pointed to the _Falcon_. “Yup,” Ben acknowledged. “I cannot imagine what that’s like,” Finn said feeling some sympathy for Ben. “It wasn’t the real me,” Ben said. Finn knowing Ben had felt that sympathy said, “You don’t need to convince me.” Ben stopped halfway up the ramp of the _Falcon_ , looking over his shoulder to Finn he said, “Yes I do.” Finn said, “It’s not me that matters, all that matters is Rey. Honestly none of us matter.” Ben went straight to the cabinet where the vacuum had been installed by Chewie at his mother’s request, opening it he said, “You matter to her.” Finn realized that all the man cared about was Rey. He smiled a bit.

Ben went into the cockpit for a bit before re-emerging. Finn pulled the hose out of the closet. Ben handed him a commlink and said, “Here, this is direct to the helm. I’ll steer it over there after you extend the hose out of the ramp. Let me know when it’s got enough slack to connect it to the kitchen sink.” Finn took the commlink from Ben and started to pull the hose out. “Let me know when to start it,” Ben stated. “Yup, you got it,” Finn responded. Finn pulled the hose as far as it will go, he raised the back ramp as much as he could to ensure the hose would stay put out of the side. He clicked the button on the commlink, “There?” Ben answered him from the cockpit, “Yes, are you clear?” Finn clicked it again, “Not yet, but question… if you could always pilot ships like this, you could have stopped the _Falcon_ that day when Rey was on the _Steadfast_ over Kijimi, right?” Ben pondered the question before answering, “With Dameron piloting it, it would have been very difficult but not impossible. But in truth, I wanted her to stay willingly. I would have never forced her to,” he said to Finn. “And you really thought she would stay with you?” Finn asked. “She is the only thing I have ever hoped for, really. In all my years, hope wasn’t something I felt often,” Ben didn’t hesitate in answering. “So, you hoped that she would _willingly_ join you?” Finn asked. “Yes,” Ben answered instantly. “I am in the clear,” Finn said after a few seconds. Finn could hear the buttons flicking on, the engine roared to life. “She has that effect on people, we all want her at our side,” Finn said over comms. 

Ben slowly took off, and with the ramp door open it’s a difficult maneuver. Finn had gone over to the source and unscrewed the main pipeline from that side. He then hurried back to the house, stepped down the courtyard that was still packed with sand. He could hear the beeping at the helm of the _Falcon_ that told the pilots that a door had been left open through comms. The sand was now blowing in every direction from the dwelling out as Ben piloted the _Falcon_ with expert ease. Finn started trying to guide him, but he quickly saw there was no need. Finn watched him position the _Falcon_ directly overhead, Ben came within inches of the courtyard door in one shot. Finn was impressed at just how close he had gotten the ship without touching the roof. Finn opened the courtyard entrance that Ben and Rey had originally broken to get in and pulled the vacuum hose towards the kitchen. He went under the sink to unscrew the connecting pipe. He tried to fit the vacuum hose onto it, but it was slightly too big. Finn said, “We need tape or something to ensure the hose will stay put.” Ben thought a bit before answering, “Look across the sink to the left of the stone stove, might find some tape there,” Ben instructed him. Finn looked where he had been instructed to and sure enough, he found something he could use and said, “Got it, give me a minute.” Ben replied, “I’ll wait here.” Finn chuckled clicking the commlink off, he went to work on attaching the hose. As he was doing so he asked himself if that was Ben’s humor showing through. He just might be human after all. Clicking on comms again, Finn said, “Let’s try this, are you ready?” Ben slowed his breathing, focusing on the steering of the _Falcon_. “Okay, moving to turn it on,” Ben said. “Let’s keep it in its normal airflow first,” Finn said. He heard Ben a little more distantly now, “Yeah.” A few seconds later, “Here it goes,” Ben shouted as he flipped the switch. He had forgotten to transfer comms to ship-wide audio, so he had to shout at the cockpit. 

The whole ground shook a bit, Ben was focused on the ship’s main steering wheel keeping the _Falcon_ steady. Finn heard the power of the air sucking up gunk through the vacuum from the pipes at the sink, the tape holding well enough. After a while, Ben turned the vacuum off on the _Falcon_. “We got to reverse the airflow,” Finn said. “Alright,” Ben replied. They coordinated to change the vacuum to blow out anything that had given way, and Finn stood up to see if anything would blow out of the drain in the kitchen when it turned on. Ben turned on the vacuum once again this time in reverse. Finn looked around to ensure none of the other pipes were busting anywhere. He saw a bunch of junk come out of the showerhead that had blown off from the refresher in the hall. “Okay, how many refreshers are in the house? Should have asked that first,” Finn asked. “Three,” Ben answered keeping his focus on steering. Finn could feel him focusing. “Go out of the first one, make a left to the master, there is a refresher adjoining it,” Ben shouted again. “Got it, check,” Finn stated walking towards the master room; everything was golden, “Clear,” he said to Ben. “Exit and down the hall there are two bedrooms with a door in between, that’s the third,” Ben continued shouting at the helm. Finn walked, noticing the corridor above him had a glass roof. Mostly covered with sand now, he opened the door to the last refresher, “And check. Okay we’re in good shape. I kinda have an idea,” he told Ben.

Ben turned off the vacuum, returning to the helm and retaking physical control of steering the _Falcon_. “What’s that?” Ben asked. “Let’s blow some of the sand out of the courtyard and ceilings with the _Falcon’s_ engine thrust,” Finn said. “Not a bad idea,” Ben agreed. “Let me get the hose detached so you can pull it up, can you do that?” Finn asked. “Yup,” Ben answered and once again he focused on the steering of the _Falcon_ , this time switching comms to ship-wide audio. Finn went in and detached the vacuum hose, cleaning off the tape he had used from it. He walked it back outside, “Okay ready whe---” Finn looked up, to see Ben already pulling up the hose. It was unnerving how cool he looked all while focusing that hard on Force… driving? Finn didn’t know what else to call it, but he definitely made using the Force look easy. “Got it,” Ben said, and he closed the ramp door. Dropping into the captain’s chair Ben told Finn, “Okay, I think you should go inside or the thrust will blow you away.” Finn made his way inside and locked the front door, then moved to the broken door at the bottom by the courtyard to hold it shut. “Any other doors that might be open? The last thing we need is more sand inside this house,” Finn asked. “Yes, but it’s down a hidden corridor and up a ladder, I am sure that hatch is covered in sand and more than likely locked,” Ben answered. “Okay then, we’re ready!” Finn said. Ben got the _Falcon_ into the right angle. Then Ben engaged the engine’s thrust mechanics, the courtyard looked like a sandstorm and felt like a tornado for a few seconds. Finn had to fight to keep the broken courtyard door shut. When it cleared, the _Falcon_ wasn’t in sight to Finn anymore. And while not all the sand was cleared out, a lot had been. “Okay didn’t get all of it, but most of it,” Finn said into his commlink. “Good, we can get whatever is left later. Can you reconnect the pipes and flick the source pipeline back on?” Ben asked. “Yeah, but we can’t turn anything on until we fix the showerhead. I need plumbing tape. _Falcon’s_ got tons of it and a more robust toolbox. It’s in th---” Finn was cut off mid-sentence, “I know where.” Ben said. Of course, he did. 

Ben parked the _Falcon_ and went right to the drawer he knew his dad kept all the different types of tape. He could count on his dad to be meticulous that way. _Always be prepared._ Han would say. He took it and started to look for the old toolbox his dad kept in a nearby cabinet, but it seems to be missing. Maybe Chewie moved the toolbox somewhere else. **_“It’s with Chewie on Crait,”_** Rey let him know through their Force Bond. **_“Well that’s not helpful,”_** Ben said to her. **_“Not a bad motto to live by. Always be prepared,”_** Rey stated. **_“You’re supposed to be sleeping on autopilot,”_** Ben countered. **_“I couldn’t sleep,”_** Rey said. **_“Without me?”_** Ben asked as he locked the ramp to the _Falcon_ with his keycard. He rubbed the top part of it that his dad had etched with imagery of a falcon with its wingspan in full spread. **_“I haven’t slept as good as the last few nights in pretty much my entire life,”_** Rey answered him and then said, **_“So yes… I sleep better with you.”_** Ben smiled. **_“As much as I like the idea of that, I do want you to try to sleep and rest up. Regain as much strength as you can.”_** Rey wanted to tease him a bit and coyly asked, **_“Do you plan on wearing me out?”_** Ben laughed as he walked in the front door. Finn noticed and asked, “Rey again? You know she should sleep some.” Ben looked to Finn, “Finn also says you should get some rest.” Ben said out loud. **_“And yes, I do plan on wearing you out. We need to train you more,”_** Ben said to Rey through their Force Bond privately.

“She’s been through hell and back,” Finn said with a protective tone to him. Ben realized then he wasn’t jealous of him anymore, but rather grateful that Rey had a friend like him. “Yes, you all have,” Ben said. Finn took the plumbing tape Ben was handing him. “You more than any of us, for a lot longer,” Finn said to him. He got back under the sink to reconnect the pipes underneath it. “Because you think I was a slave, like you?” Ben asked him. Finn stopped for a second and asked, “Were you not? Maybe not exactly like I was, but when you think about it,” Finn continued with his task, “being manipulated, twisted, abused, and used to the point that you kill your own father I think is the worst kind of enslavement, in my opinion.” The words hit Ben like a ton of bricks. Ben made extra effort to shut Rey out and went silent. Finn noticed and felt Ben’s shame and heartbreak. “I am not saying that to like get under your skin about it,” Finn said finishing up the connections and making his way back to his feet, “I am saying it to make you realize that you were brainwashed to the point of patricide and that it’s not your fault,” Finn said. Ben was stoic for a bit, Finn stood up to look at the tools Ben had brought in, “Where is the toolbox?” he asked Ben. Ben answered him in an emotionless tone, “Rey said Chewie kept it on Crait.” Finn put the tape back on the counter and responded, “Oh, you got to be kidding me?” Ben didn’t say anything, still in deep thought. Finn felt it. “Okay, I didn’t mean to go all gloom and doom on you,” Finn said. Ben looked at him and said, “No, you’re right. I am still you know, processing it all. I was Snoke’s apprentice for 15 years,” Ben said matter-of-factly. Finn’s eyes grew wide, “Wow fifteen years? How old are you?” Ben sighed, “I was born in 5 ABY. If I do the math, I am 30.” Finn thought about that, that’s not much older than he is. 

“Do you know your birthday?” Ben asked Finn. “I think I am 24, but I don’t think stormtroopers ever know their birthdays, not really,” Finn responded. “It's Selona 3rd and yes you’re 24, ABY 11.” Finn was shocked, his mouth parted open, but he quickly asked, “Who were my parents? Where was I born? What else do you know?” The questions wouldn’t stop coming out of Finn’s mouth, “How many other stormtroopers have been stolen from their families? Did you lead any of that?” Ben held up his hands, “One question at a time,” Finn gasped and shut up. “The only reason I know your details is because when you first defected, we scoured over your records to try to figure out why you would defect with no priors, it’s the protocol to do so,” Ben said, “I got the full report on you. Your parents were killed by order of Snoke, as were the families, if they had any, of all children taken by the First Order. You were taken from Lothal at the age of 2. I know that Force-sensitives are almost always preferred, and there were elite teams of Praetorians on most human-based worlds that would constantly kidnap young children for this purpose,” Ben let him take that in, then he flicked his eyes to him, he noticed Finn was crying. Ben added, “And no, I didn’t have any part in that, to be honest, it was never something I really agreed with and when I took the lead from Snoke, I dismantled that practice which shocked a lot of the Sith loyalists. Do I know if that’s a tactic they’d return to? Yes, it’s the way the Sith operate,” Ben finished, he was now playing with the plumbing tape Finn had put on the counter. Finn let out muffled cries. Ben started to feel sick to his stomach. “I am sorry,” Ben said, and he rushed over to the sink vomiting into it. Finn watched him, wiping his own tears away. He could feel the disgust that Ben felt for the atrocities the Sith had exercised that Ben had allowed to happen. Finn stood up and grabbed the tape and moved to the refresher down the hall. He needed a minute.

Finn started to fix the showerhead, but his thoughts were racing at the discovery that his home planet was Lothal, that Snoke had ordered his parents' death, that he was born on Selona 3rd in the 11th year ABY. The details seemed to be too much to take. For twenty-four years he had no idea of these minor details that as a stormtrooper he thought trivial but now proved to be at the core of the blanks he’s been trying to fill in his story. Ben had given him this gift. He might have not seen it as such, but that’s how Finn saw it. He got the showerhead back on, but he thought they’re going to need replacements for most of these parts. The floor still had a mix of sand and water, exactly how did all this sand get in here? He had no idea, but it was everywhere. He peeked out of the door and towards the kitchen, Ben was just sitting at the counter completely expressionless staring into space. Finn wondered if he was talking to Rey. In that moment he wished he could talk to Rey too, but that was a power reserved for them. He went back into the refresher and tackled the sink there, checking it for any visible leaks. The toilet was in horrible shape, but a little elbow grease might make it at least usable. They’d need tools and such to really whip this place into shape. Finn thought that when Chewie or Maz come to visit they could bring more supplies. 

## Honest Communications

A familiar sound was heard through the house, the crunching of sand that covered pretty much every tile in the house by a round moving object. BB-8 stopped at where Ben was, he beeped at him. Ben snapped out of it, “What is it?” He asked the droid. BB-8 beeped alerting to the fact that Poe had been trying to get a hold of Finn on his spaceship but got Rey instead. Rey redirected him to the _Falcon_ , briefing him on what she was doing. Poe was on hold. “Ahh, yes Finn is in the refresher,” Ben said pointing down the hall. He clearly was still processing. It would be like that for a while. BB-8 gave Ben some happy beeps to try to cheer him up, to no avail. Finn popped his head out, “BB-8! Hey, bud… where have you been?” BB-8 was happy to see Finn, with a few beeps he explained that he was in power conservation mode because there was nowhere to charge up until recently and that Poe was on the line in the _Falcon_. “Ohhh, is he? Okay. Did we get all the solar panels working?” BB-8 would beep out a response, telling Finn that Zorii had helped and that he had just been able to recharge fully. BB-8 turned and started to move towards the kitchen, Finn followed him. They came to where Ben sat, “You okay?” Finn asked. “Are any of us okay?” Ben replied with a question. “No, we’re just taking it one day at a time and enjoying the happy moments that happen every day,” Finn said. He patted Ben’s shoulder. Ben was not used to anyone touching him, except for Rey. He flinched a bit, tensing up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to… “ Finn started to say. “It’s okay, adjusting,” Ben said interrupting him. Finn nodded yes a few times, he understood that feeling because he had felt it himself when he defected from the First Order.

Finn followed BB-8 out to the _Falcon_ , which BB-8 could open as he had the encryption for it. Finn walked up the ramp, he thought holy hell is it hot out here. In the short walk from the house to the _Falcon_ , he was sweating. He grabbed some water from the _Falcon’s_ water recycler to try to cool himself off. The ship had been put on standby mode, so even it was hot. BB-8 got the environmental control systems on, and the air started to cool off. Finn plopped into the captain’s chair and turned on the hologram comms system. “Finn!” Poe exclaimed, “how the hell do you let Rey go off to freaking Wobani like that?” Finn rolled his eyes, “As if I _let_ her?” He asked rhetorically before continuing, “you know she is Rey, right? No one tells her what she can and cannot do. Not me, not you, not Ben Solo, not anyone.” Poe let out an exasperated sigh, “I just don’t know what she was thinking.” Finn threw his hands up, “It's Rey!” “No, not Rey, I know Rey will do what Rey needs to do, I mean Zorii,” Poe corrected his friend. “Ahh, well I can tell you that Rey is determined to return with her,” Finn said. “Yeah,” Poe said looking dejected. 

Finn asked, “What’s going on with you and Zorii? I mean I knew there was something there when we went to Kijimi but clearly you’re going through it. I mean Zorii is probably just feeling what everyone else is feeling, which is abandonment and displacement. Her planet was blown up to smithereens. It’s bound to crack you wide open and everything you’ve buried deep is bubbling over. So, level with me bud, yeah?” Poe slouched into his chair, letting out a desperate curse, “KRIFFFF!” His hands went into his hair, he was just out of patience for it all. “I… I just… ugh. I don’t expect you to understand this Finn. I am exhausted. It’s been four years since I left; I waited seven months for her to return before I mean I just had to give up, right? Seven months!!! I didn’t think I’d ever see her again,” Poe said; his eyes welled up a bit. Finn felt bad for his friend, his heart was breaking for Poe. This is something that Ben felt from inside the house, he wanted to check in on Finn. He made his way towards the _Falcon_ and it became clear that what Finn was feeling was centered on Poe, he still made his way up the ramp, BB-8 beeped acknowledging Ben who patted his head. The droid was growing on him like it did on everyone else. Finn tossed a look over his shoulder, “Be right there.” Poe straightened up in his chair, “is that?” He asked. Finn looked to Poe on the hologram, “yeah, hold on.” Finn jumped out of the captain’s chair walking towards Ben. “Hey, I am okay. Are you okay?” Finn asked Ben. Ben was taken back by his question, but he remembered that maybe he felt something off in him. “Fine,” Ben said. Finn lowered his voice, “It’s Poe… he’s not exactly your biggest fan,” Finn told Ben. “Who is?” Ben asked. “Rey. And maybe, maybe me? I mean you Force drove the _Millennium Falcon_ , that’s super cool,” Finn was honest. He wasn’t sure if it would end up being the “Ben & Finn” show, but he was sure that forgiveness was in him somehow, and if it wasn’t then what the hell was he fighting for? Ben smiled, “thanks, yeah I’ll leave you alone.” He whispered, “You know, girl problems… between buds.” Finn perked a brow. “Not really,” Ben said. “You’ve got to be kidding me?” Finn said raising his voice, “you were the Supreme Leader of the First Order, you never had to deal with girls?” The utter shock in Finn’s face made Ben blush a bit. “I’ll leave you to it,” Ben turned and started to walk toward the ramp. Finn slowly backed up, turning towards the cockpit. He dramatically threw himself back to the captain’s chair with a look of utter confusion. Poe studied his face, “What? What is it?” Finn shook himself out of the thoughts he was having, “Nothing it’s just that… we cannot let the First Order or the Sith or whatever is left of it ever lay their hands on any children again, Poe.” Nodding, Poe said, “I am trying buddy.” Finn looked to him, “Oh no, you’re not off the hook, spill it… Zorii!” Poe sighed again, “Fine… it started with my parents.” 

Ben walked back towards the house, he put his hands in his pockets. He unblocked his Force Bond with Rey, **_“What the blazes, Ben?”_** Rey immediately sent him a message. She had felt him re-establish their Force Bond. **_“Sorry, Finn was asking about his history. I told him what I knew,”_** Ben sent a response. **_“Wait you knew about him specifically?”_** Rey asked innocently. **_“Yes, when he first defected. I was sent a report on him,”_** Ben answered her. **_“Oh wow, well how did he feel about that?”_** Rey asked. **_“I don’t know. I am surprised at how gracious he is with me; he should want me dead, like everyone else,”_** Ben replied. **_“He’s talking to Poe Dameron,”_** Ben added. **_“Ahh, how is Poe?”_** Rey inquired. **_“I don’t know. But he really, really hates me,”_** Ben said. **_“He kept beeping me and I finally answered, of course, he didn’t like where I was headed, told him to call the_ Falcon _,”_** Rey said knowing the _Falcon_ will receive comms signals from across the galaxy. **_“We can’t keep the_ Falcon’s _comm signals on, they know that ship’s signature,”_** Ben said. Rey sighed and said, **_“Yeah. I know. I told BB-8 to shut it down after he’s done.”_** Rey would continue, **_“I am almost to Wobani. The Upturn huh? Sounds like a nightclub.”_** Ben would explain, ** _“It’s a bar… and there is dancing. You might say it’s a nightclub,”_** Ben said. **_“Frequented often?”_** Rey asked coyly. **_“Nope. The Sith do not concern themselves with entertainment; it’s always business, dark business,”_** Ben answered not really picking up on her tone. Honestly, he had never done as much talking as he had in the last 5 days. **_“I was kidding, Ben,”_** Rey said. **_“I know, I am sorry I didn’t… It’s been rough,”_** Ben said. **_“What’s wrong?”_** Rey asked. **_“I’d rather not talk about it right now,”_** Ben stated. Rey knew to back off. **_“Okay, I’ll message you after I check out the Upturn,”_** she sent back to him. Ben slumped down in his bed; he was exhausted. He kicked off his boots, and at that moment the realization of it all washed over him. His father had been right on Starkiller Base, Snoke and Palpatine were using him for his power, like a puppet. That’s all he had been for so long. How could he have allowed Snoke to grab a hold of him as he had? He made him kill his own father! Maybe if he helped Finn and the Resistance free the kidnapped children that were still being groomed in those concentration camps it would help to make up for some of what he had done while under Snoke’s thumb. He wondered what else he could do to help undo the damage the Sith had inflicted. He had to try at least to make amends for it. For Rey. For his uncle Luke. For his father. For his mother, who devoted her life to this work. _“There is still light in him, I know it.”_ He heard his mother’s voice in the distance, at almost a whisper. “You were right, mom. You were right.” Ben whispered. 


	6. Chapter 5: Heart of the Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters dives into the complex history of Poe Dameron and Zorii Bliss. Lovers that were tragically pulled in different directions because of the war, because of their parents, and because of duty. Zorii takes on a dangerous job to earn some quick credits that could prove life-threatening as the galaxy falls into turmoil. 
> 
> Ben Solo thinks of a good way to put the nail in the coffin of the remnants of the First Order and shares his idea with Finn. The two men bond as Ben reflects on memories of his parents while Finn recounts stories of Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo he himself experienced with them to help Ben reconnect with them.

## In the Shadows

Finn looked at Poe on the hologram, “Wow, that’s Rebellion royalty right there. I mean even I had heard of Shara Bey. She was part of the squad that took down the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor. That’s your mother?” Finn asked. “Yeah, she was amazing. She’d take me flying with her all the time. I owe my piloting skills to her. She died 6 years after the Battle of Endor. I was really young still; just 8 years old. My father did not take it well, like at all.” Poe said. “I can’t imagine anyone would. How did she die?” Finn asked. “A freak accident on a test flight,” Poe answered. He fell silent for a bit before continuing, “My father just threw himself into his work, almost forgot he had a kid at home. He had served under Generals Han Solo and Leia before he and my mom retired. When she died, he returned to working for Leia, and I took off. I got into the less scrupulous ways of making money, landed in Kijimi by chance. There, I met Zorii Wynn. And I was hooked on her like she was on me. We were inseparable,” Poe recounted and then paused. “How old were you?” Finn asked. “I took off from Yavin 4 when I was 16, my dad didn’t even notice I had left for weeks after. He did try to look for me once he realized I hadn’t come home, garnishing the assistance of our family friend and fellow Rebel pilot, L'ulo L'ampar, I met Zorii when I was 17, she was 19,” Poe answered. “You do like older women. First love?” Finn asked. “First and only.” Poe answered quickly. “So, why aren’t you together? What happened?” Finn asked. Poe retold the story that Zorii had shared with Rey about Zorii’s mother Zeva Bliss and how she had plans to assassinate the other gang leaders and take over the criminal underground on the entire sector of Kijimi. She had lured them to a meeting under the false pretense of unification and Poe had accidentally overheard her talking about it with another crew member. It was kept from Zorii and the rest of the crew, so he made it a point to gather the proof he needed to ensure people don’t needlessly die. The Spice Runners of Kijimi may have dealt in illicit drugs but they were not murderers. When he got the proof, he was the one that had to break it to Zorii. As they moved to try to stop Zeva, she caught Poe and was ready to execute him when Zorii stopped her. The Runners Code of Kijimi stated that anyone that was caught plotting to murder rival gang members needed to be put to death by the person that caught them. Poe refused to do that because it was Zorii’s mother. He loved Zorii and didn’t want to cause her additional pain. When he refused to do so however, he was exiled from the Runners. Zeva was taken to a prison off world and sentenced to life in prison. Poe had to lurk in the shadows in some other sector of the planet and could no longer make the money he had been used to because of his banishment, but he and Zorii continued to see each other. Because Zorii was now the leader of the Spice Runners of Kijimi, she also did not want to make it seem like she was giving Poe preferential treatment because of their romantic connection. It would have invalidated her command in her eyes. She had to keep her relationship a secret from everyone. That took a toll on Poe. But then 9 months later, the prison ship that held Zeva Bliss had a riot and many prisoners escaped, including Zeva. Zeva vowed to find and assassinate Poe and retake control of her gang. She found where he was hiding out and waited for the right moment. To her surprise, she saw her daughter Zorii with Poe. She immediately thought that her daughter had betrayed her and that it had been a planned coupe by both of them. Rage grabbed a hold of Zeva, and she broke into Poe’s ship to kill them both. Zorii, defending her lover, killed her mother. Poe helped Zorii through all of it, covering it up due to Zorii’s concerns that others would think the same as her mother had. This threw the young couple into a complete tailspin with fights erupting daily. Poe wanted to marry Zorii, he even gave her his mother’s wedding ring. But Zorii refused. She had grown up with the crew, it was her family. They wouldn’t understand that she all of the sudden wanted this “normal” life with Poe. Zorii also thought she would get to the point where she’d miss it and resent Poe for it. One night, she packed all her stuff, left Poe a note and took off, leaving Vigilch in charge in her absence. Poe waited for 7 months for Zorii to return, and by that point even Vigilch had not heard from her. He was forced to give up waiting and he ended up clearing the credits out from the crew in a single-man heist because he was utterly broke. L'ulo L'ampar and Kes Dameron finally caught up with Poe and asked him to come home. Refusing to do so he instead joined the Resistance under General Leia Organa. L'ulo L'ampar also joined to keep an eye on him, at Kes Dameron’s request. L'ampar would later be killed in action by Agent Terex of the First Order Security Bureau (FOSB), an event that affected Poe in drastic ways as he regarded L'ampar as a second father, just as he regarded Leia as a second mother. 

Finn said, “Wow, Poe. I had no idea it went that deep.” Silence fell the two men for a few seconds. “Yeah,” Poe said with a slight pause before continuing, “still does.” Finn pondered him a moment, “I am afraid to tell you that this… what you feel… that’s what Rey feels for Ben Solo,” he said to Poe. “I really wish she didn’t,” Poe said with a deep sigh and a shake of his head. “She’s our friend Poe, and as our friend, and someone with special powers that are hard to understand, we have to have faith in her. Faith that she sees more in him than we could, and she’s never steered us wrong,” Finn said. Poe ran a hand through his hair, “If it was just up to me, I’d let him prove himself worthy of her, but it’s not. There are a lot of people here that have been in the line of fire against him or those he commanded, Finn.” “Listen, can I be honest with you without you doing the Poe thing?” Finn asked. “The Poe thing?” Poe shot back. “You know that thing you do when other people talk about the Force or having some sensitivity to it,” Finn said. “Oh that. I’ll put it away for now,” Poe said rolling his eyes. “Ben knew information about me that I just thought I’d never have the chance to know,” Finn said. “Oh, it’s _Ben_ now,” Poe retorted crossing his arms. “You promised,” Finn said. “Fine… what information did Ren know?” Poe asked. “My birthday, what happened to my parents, what planet I was born in, and a few other things,” Finn said. “He was Supreme Leader, surely he knew those things about many stormtroopers, because you know he commanded them? All of them?” Poe answered. Finn sighed. They sat silent a few seconds. “Sorry,” Poe said. “Those details don’t matter much to you because you know them, Poe. He said that they had scoured the report on FN-2187 with great detail when I defected. And that it was protocol to have those reports sent up to people like him, as in the Supreme Leader,” Finn said. “So, you’re thinking there are reports like that for others like you?” Poe asked. “More like they know the details of every single stormtrooper taken,” Finn said. “And you think Kylo Ren could help you get these reports?” Poe asked. “Well, it would help him make amends or at least start to, maybe?” Finn put the question to Poe. “I don’t know Finn; how could we ever trust him?” Poe asked honestly. “Because we trust her,” Finn said. Just then BB-8 rolled into the cockpit giving Finn some beeps as to Rey’s request that they shut down the comms system since this ship has a known signature. “Yeah, that’s true, BB-8,” Poe said. “That means I’ll be out of pocket,” Finn said. Poe nodded. “Maybe you should bring the _Falcon_ back, we could load it up with supplies,” Poe offered. “This place is a mess; they need help in making it operational here. I have to say, I got see Ben Solo “Force drive” the _Millennium Falcon_ today to help blow out the plumbing by using the _Falcon’s_ vacuum system. Never seen that before, not up close like that. It was… something,” Finn said. Poe shook his head, “Next thing you know, you are old buds playing round of Sabbac or holochess reminiscing about how “traitorous” you were “back in the days”, drukk!” Poe exclaimed. Finn said, “See this is why I tell you nothing.” Poe threw his hands up, “You’re like drooling over his piloting skills, by the Force!” Finn made a face, “Exactly why I tell you _nothing_.” Finn snapped. “If you hear from Rey, ask her about bringing the _Falcon_ back for a supply run. But Finn, I need you here buddy,” Poe said. “Well, would you like to spend a day here, maybe you just might get to understand that Ben Solo was brainwashed for fifteen years and that maybe you could possibly try to sympathize with our best friend, you could drive it back,” Finn said. “Ha! That’s fresh… real fresh, no thank you,” Poe quickly responded. “What if Rey finds Zorii and brings her back here? Then will you come?” Finn asked. “Oh, that’s real dirty. I see you don’t play fair; I’ll remember that.” Poe said standing up to head back out of the comms room. “Over and out,” Finn said closing the connection.

Finn said good night to BB-8, he would charge overnight. BB-8 put the _Falcon_ back on standby and locked the ramp door after Finn took his exit. The droid also shut down the comms system. Now it was late afternoon, and the heat was unbearable, by the time he got inside he was drenched in sweat. He saw that Ben had prepared some food. Finn thought to himself this is so odd. Ben shot him a look and Finn had to remind himself yet again that Ben could literally hear his thoughts. “Not always,” Ben said placing a plate on the counter before continuing, “the stronger the emotion they feel, the easier it is for us to pick up on it.” Finn went straight for the water jug, “Its hotter than a witch’s tit out there,” Finn said thumbing towards the door filling up a glass. “You’ve met a witch?” Ben inquired innocently. Finn chuckled, “It’s an expression, we have a lot of those in the military.” Finn gulfed down the entire glass of water, pouring himself another. “I see. I may remember some of them from when I was younger, but not that one,” Ben said preparing himself a plate of rations. “So, Poe thinks I should fly back with the _Falcon_ ,” Finn started to say, “We need a ship that has life support systems, in case anything happens in this old place,” Ben challenged immediately. A part of him just wanted to keep the ship here, where he could sit in it and work through all that had happened. “No, we get that… even though since its signature is rather well known, it may not be a bad idea to exchange it for an unregistered one,” Finn said. “I need it here,” Ben said sharply. Finn felt the attachment in Ben, found that to be a good thing, “Ah, yes, I can understand that” Finn said. “Can you?” Ben asked as he set his own plate on the counter and swung around to sit. He certainly did not enjoy the rations at all, so he scarfed them down. 

Finn was used to it, so he ate slower than Ben. “What we need is real food,” Ben said finishing up. Finn sighed, “Don’t we all, but we’re in such short supply, refugees are showing up by the hundreds per day. Not all planets were able to overthrow the First Order rule, so many had to escape. We’re trying to provide shelter and food for all of them.” Finn drank more of his water and continued to eat. “That is easily fixed, put me in a planet with lots of meat to hunt, I can level entire grasslands in minutes,” Ben said. Finn’s eyes grew wide, “How?” It was all he could muster. “The Dark side of the Force takes life,” Ben said simply. Finn said, “But I thought you had returned to the Light?” Ben got up and put his plate in the sink, pouring himself some water. “Do you think that over 15 years of training just disappears because I chose to reject the core principles behind it?” Ben asked. Finn thought about what Ben was saying. “I am a Sith, but I am also a Jedi. I am Light, but I am also Dark. I tried go to one side or the other, and it literally ripped me apart. No more. Anyone I train will learn both sides and all we can do is hope that unlike me, they make better choices,” Ben said as he shot Finn a look. “So, you’d teach those like me both powers?” Finn asked pondering Ben’s words. “To say the Jedi or the Sith have powers is vanity, the Force doesn’t belong to anyone. It’s been corrupted in both ways for far too long.” Ben said and drank his water. “Does Rey have that duality like you do?” Finn asked. “Yes. Because she’s the other half of me; we’re like mirrors of each other,” Ben answered. “How does that dyad thing work?” Finn inquired further. “We haven’t a clue, to be honest. Thousands of generations have passed since this was last seen,” Ben said. “You’re planning on teaching her the Dark side of the Force?” Finn was direct. Ben stared at him for a while, the two men were silent. “Yes, I am.” Ben said putting his empty glass in the sink as well. Finn thought about Rey’s confession to him, about her lineage. He wondered if that may open her up to something that she could not understand or control. “It won’t. I’ll make sure it doesn’t,” Ben said. Finn continued to eat. “First lesson, teach me how to close this thing,” Finn said tapping at the side of his head. Ben smiled before speaking, “Think of a locked door, then think of a thief on the other side of it trying to break in. How would you keep them out?” Ben said. Finn smiled. That seemed easy enough. “It’s not, takes practice,” Ben said, “going to go out to start up the source pipeline, yeah?” Finn nodded as he took a drink and tried to finish his lunch.

## The Upturn

Rey navigated the small, unregistered craft into the navigation coordinates until she could spot the cantina, built on top of ruins from the old Imperial Detention Center. She parked her spacecraft. **_“Okay I am going in, wish me luck.”_** Rey sent Ben a message. **_“You don’t need it but be careful, use all of your senses.”_** Ben sent back as he was connecting the outside source pipeline. Rey nodded. Ben sighed. **_“Don’t worry, I will.”_** Rey assured him.

As Rey made her way to the entrance there was a commotion by the door. A nice size group was shouting and formed a circle around two males ducking it out for bets, “Great!” Rey thought. A few others started to stare at her, then started to follow her. Rey did her best to block Ben out and use the Force to sense echoes around for Zorii. She felt the men following her as others started to follow as she moved through the room. The loud music was deafening, and the atmosphere felt hostile. Rey made a sharp turn facing the men that were following her, hand on her lightsaber. She immediately heard the sound of blasters cocking at both ears. To her left was Zorii Bliss, to her right a young woman with another woman to her own right, all pointing to the men that followed Rey. “I have no qualms with you fellows but if you take another step, we will make quick work of you,” Zorii threatened. The men backed up, moving their hands away from their weapons. Zorii was known as an exceptional shot and fighter. Very few wanted to mess with her, but it was the two other ladies that seemed to instill fear in the men. They shot a look to Rey who stood breathing hard, ready for a fight. Zorii moved closer to Rey and whispered, “What the kriff are you doing here? Are you crazy?” Zorii said to Rey. The two girls with Zorii un-cocked their blasters and sheathed them in their holsters. Zorii followed, grabbing Rey by the fold of her left arm. “Move,” Zorii directed Rey to a back table. The other two women took a seat across from where Zorii parked Rey and then took the seat to Rey’s right. The place was dimly lit, full of dust and rust. It still smelled of death and blood. Men all around were shouting at each other, there was a mosh pit dug out of the middle of the building they were in. Loud music played from a DJ booth, and there was more blood than dirt in that pit. Rey had never seen anything like this. Zorii unshielded her eyes by the press of a button, “You are crazy to come here; did you follow me?” Zorii demanded of Rey. “Why are you running Zorii?” Rey replied to her question with one of her own. Zorii looked at Rey, “This isn’t the place to talk about that. This is Lyra and Shaya Ponta. This is Rey.” Rey looked to them, nodding. She returned her gaze back to Zorii, “I came all this way, you will talk about this.” Rey was indign ant. She was not going to let Zorii get away with repeating her same mistakes. “You have no home, Zorii, your crew needs you more than ever back on Crait, and you need to let the people that love you in,” Rey laid it out flatly. Lyra and Shaya looked to each other, then to Zorii. “Dammit, Rey… come with me!” Zorii grabbed her by the elbow leading her to a corner, “When I say this isn’t the place, I really mean this isn’t the place. Any vulnerability you show is used against you in this place.” She turned to face Rey, “I cannot return there. I just can’t. I will have to find my way out here,” Zorii said. “But you don’t have to, Zorii. Listen, I know he cares for you and you for him, that’s obvious. Please come back with me; you could stay in Tatooine with us. I beg you. I need you to help us rebuild the Resistance and restore the Republic,” Rey implored of Zorii. Zorii’s eyes would tear up a bit because what Rey needed at the moment was a friend that understood what she feels for Ben, because they’ve felt that way before. With Poe being his stubborn self, he wouldn’t be available to Rey for this type of close friendship. Zorii sighed. “And what are you doing with the Ponta twins?” Rey asked. “I needed money; they can provide me at least a few jobs. We will need the credits if we’re going to be rebuilding this damned galaxy back,” Zorii said. “So that’s a yes? You’ll stay with us then? Tatooine? Until you are comfortable returning to Cra---” Rey said, cut off by Zorii. “Don’t say that planet around here, this place has ears everywhere,” Zorii said. After a few minutes an impatient Lyra Ponta moved towards Zorii, “We got a deal or not, Bliss?” she asked. Zorii looked to Lyra, “Yeah. 1000 credits, no less.” Lyra looked back to Shaya who nodded. Lyra handed Zorii a chip in a handshake. Rey looked at the twins, she knew who they were, and it seemed almost a shame to know their parents had been a young Jyn Erso, the Rebellion hero and her first love, Hadder Ponta who the twins never got to meet. Lyra looked at Zorii, “You got 24 hours.” 

Rey crossed her arms, “What are we doing?” Zorii sighed. She watched as Shaya popped up from the stool and followed her sister out of the building. She was now minus two. “We need to get out of here, now,” Zorii exclaimed. They exited a side door, “To your ship, mine’s a way down,” Zorii instructed. The two of them walked fast and furious towards the small planet hopper. Zorii had one hand on her blaster in her left holster as she walked. Rey sensed this place had somehow gotten even more dangerous than when Ben might have visited here; if he had known it was this bad, he might have objected to letting her come alone. He had become more protective of Rey and she knew it. They quickly boarded the ship and locked the doors. Zorii turned to Rey, “As word got out of the First Order’s defeat, certain planets have been seeing an increase in hard crime, especially in trafficking; you cannot be out here Rey. It’s not safe! If they recognized you, they would alert the First Order who probably have a bounty on your head by now. You need to get back to Tatooine and fast. I need to get these credits and send word to my crew.” Rey crossed her arms, “If you think I am letting you do this by yourself, you have lost your mind.” Rey wasn’t kidding. Zorii rolled her eyes, “I have to do this alone, Rey. You must trust me,” she said. Rey kept her arms crossed, “What is it?” Zorii sighed, “A shipment of Sansanna spice, Rey.” Rey eyes light up, “As in Kessel spice mines?” Zorii flicked her visor shut, “Yes. Now go… get out of here, and make your way back to Tatooine,” Zorii pleaded with Rey. Rey was stalwart, “Not until you promise me, Tatooine in 24 hours or I will come back here or Kessel itself looking for you and I will not come alone.” Zorii sighed, “Fine.” Rey wanted confirmation, “You give me your word, Zorii Bliss.” Zorii scoffed, “Yes, you have my word.” Zorii moved towards the cockpit, “Now let’s go back to the _Comeuppance_.” Rey moved to the co-pilot’s chair. “What do I tell Poe?” Zorii gritted her teeth, “Nothing. The less he knows of this the better.” Rey shook her head, “If we don’t tell him something he’ll lose his mind and send people scouting for you, quite probable that he’d ask your crew, you know that.” Rey was right, Poe was stubborn after all. “Tell him the truth then, lying won’t help. I am trying to get credits and will come back to Tatooine in a day,” Zorii said making her landing by her ship the _Comeuppance_. Zorii moved out of the captain’s chair, Rey stopped her and hugged her. Zorii was surprised by it. Rey’s eyes teared up, “Please be safe.”

Zorii exited the ship, blaster drawn from its holster. She made it on the _Comeuppance_. Rey lifted her small craft at nearly the same time that Zorii had done the same to the _Comeuppance_. They flew in different directions. Rey immediately let her walls down. **_“By the Force, Rey. You left me in a sudden state of panic when I couldn’t reach you.”_** Ben exclaimed having felt their Force Bond reconnect. She was getting better at blocking him out of her mind, and he didn’t like it. **_“Sorry, Ben. Let’s just say the Upturn is probably very different than it had been when you last saw it. I found her!”_** Rey sent him the message back. **_“Oh good, is she coming back here?”_** Ben sent her the question as he walked back into the house and made his way to the kitchen where Finn was just finishing his portions. “It’s Rey, she found her,” Ben said to Finn. Finn let out a relieved sigh, “Good, I’ll head out to the _Falcon_ to send Poe the message,” Finn said as he stood up and collected his dishes walking to the sink. **_“He’ll send a message to Poe.”_** Ben sent to Rey. **_“No, I need to talk to him myself. She’s not coming to Tatooine with me. Not until tomorrow. And she’ll be staying with us on Tatooine for a while.”_** Rey replied to Ben. “Wait, she said she needs to speak to him,” Ben said to Finn. “She should stay off comms,” Finn retorted. Ben nodded to Finn who had moved to stand in front of Ben now. **_“Finn thinks you should avoid using comms and stay low.”_** Ben sent to Rey. **_“After this, I will.”_** Ben nodded. **_“Pick a different route to head back.”_** Ben cautioned Rey. Finn said, “She should use another way home that how she went over to Wobani.” Ben replied, “Already told her to.” “Right,” Finn said. He had to admit this was a weird way to communicate with Rey but at least it’s completely untraceable; convenient he thought. **_“Taking the Perlimian Trade Route to cross into the Corellian Run.”_** Rey sent to Ben. **_“Okay. When you make the cross, let me know please.”_** Ben asked of her. **_“I will.”_** Rey promised. **_“Tell Finn that Zorii found out that a lot of the criminal underground is rising up to take over their respective areas, causing all kinds of chaos in the galaxy. Small territorial wars are erupting all over. Wobani is no longer safe.”_** Rey asked Ben to relay the message. Ben sent her a short acknowledgement, **_“Okay.”_** He knew that for all of the First Order’s faults, the one thing they did keep together was peace by means of fear, without that looming threat the galaxy could see its darkest nightmares come to fruition. He looked to Finn, “Zorii is not coming straight here, she’s promised to come tomorrow. And she’s going to stay with us here for a while,” Ben relayed Rey’s message. “Oh man Poe is really not going to like the sound of that,” Finn said. Ben continued, “She says the galaxy is falling into the depths of chaos and criminal organizations are now unchecked, so they feel they can once again do anything they want.” Finn gave him a look of disbelief, “But we just liberated the galaxy!” Ben shot him a look, how would he explain this to someone that had been enslaved the way Finn had, he proceeded with caution, “The First Order did not go about it all the right way, granted, but one thing they did was keep the peace. You’ve created a vacuum in that stability,” Ben said. “First Order and right does not belong in the same sentence,” Finn responded pausing slightly before continuing, “but I could recognize that they made for good policing. What we need is to reform the Senate.” Finn looked to Ben curiously. He continued, “which I think you could help with.” Ben looked at him, and it was right at the tip of Finn’s mind. He didn’t have to search for it. “Absolutely not, me? No. I am sure that will not go over well,” Ben said. “Okay we really have to work on you not just reading everyone’s thoughts, man,” Finn reproached. “Sorry, not used to that,” Ben said honestly. Using his power in such ways had been encouraged by Snoke. He realizes now it wasn’t because Snoke wanted to teach him anything, but because he had wanted to use him; he had grown more powerful than his master and had never really been unblinded until Rey. She had lifted the veil of the premise that Ben had long ago known to be the case, but his desire to belong to someone, _anyone_ , had overtook his rationality. Finn sat on the stool by the counter looking at Ben, he could see that Ben was thinking, though he didn’t know about what. He finally spoke, “Leia Organa Solo was an active Senator of the New Republic, that makes you her heir,” Finn said. Ben flicked his eyes to him. “It may be the only way that you and Rey are safe for a while, from the First Order, the rising criminals, and unfortunately from the Resistance,” Finn added being honest with Ben. “If you become a Senator interim, until they hold elections, you’d be better protected. Only the most brash would move against New Republic guardians. It’s your birthright, Ben, and its Senate Code,” Finn stopped letting him absorb that. “Provided they learn I am alive,” Ben replied. “Until we can get Poe and frankly the others, which are a lot, to allow you a reprieve, they’re going to want you to be placed under arrest. And I am going to be honest, we cannot currently protect either of you.” Finn said.

## Bad News, Good News

Rey sought to contact Poe, he had been waiting for her, so it was answered immediately, “Was she there? Is she okay?” Poe desperately shot off the questions. “Yes, and yes, Poe.” Rey answered him. “Is she coming back here then?” Poe inquired further. “No, she’s not. She is going to stay with me in Tatooine, for a little while,” Rey stated. “She still isn’t answering my hails on comms,” Poe said. “She won’t, you need to give her some space. She said she’ll be back to Luke’s place in 24 hours. She was doing something for the Ponta twins,” Rey told Poe. “Oh kriff, is she doing a run?” Poe asked, his tone with a hint of worry. “Yes, Poe she feels like she needs this. She had no money, neither does the Resistance,” Rey said. Poe shook his head. “The Ponta twins are in some deep drukk, Rey. They run one of the biggest crime syndicates in The Slice,” Poe told Rey. “I know but she wouldn’t let me come with her, because I have zero experience and the First Order more than likely wants my head on a spit for supposedly killing their Supreme Leader, she didn’t think it was safe.” Rey replied. “She’s right. It’s not,” Poe said. “Poe, the galaxy is falling into revolt and not just against the First Order. Zorii warned me that criminals are rising up to retake old territories and there is an increase in hard crimes, especially trafficking. Wobani is not safe,” Rey informed Poe. This all didn’t improve the level of worry Poe was feeling for Zorii. “Is she headed to Kessel?” Poe asked. “She didn’t give me all the details,” Rey answered. “Poe, she’s very resourceful and she did agree to come back, even if she might not go back to Crait for the immediate time being,” Rey continued. “Yeah, she’s avoiding me,” Poe said in a dejected tone. “Maybe. But she’s also going through a lot; her home world is gone, her crew is all over the place, she doesn’t know who’s alive or dead, and her former lover was just put in charge of rebuilding the Resistance,” Rey explained before continuing, “If she’s not back tomorrow by 1800, round up her crew in Crait, come to Tatooine and we’ll go look for her with you.” Rey paused. “Roger, over and out,” Poe said before cutting the connection. He didn’t want to leave her on comms for too long.

Zorii had to make it to Kessel and quick, but she had two TIE fighters on her tail, the _Comeuppance_ had been tagged as a Resistance Sympathizer ship. That had happened fast, her thoughts were on Poe which didn’t help her concentration. She wove in and out of the blaster shots being thrown at her. She was on Pabol Hutta and she knew that if she could get to the Maw, a black hole near Kessel, she’d be able to lose them. The First Order rarely sent out any TIE patrols alone, it was almost always two at a time. This was happening all over. The First Order was struggling to keep control with their severely diminished forces, so they were trying to ensure any Resistance, or anyone that may be linked to them, was taken down. Mass execution notices were raging through the planets. She quickly ducked in and through, but nothing was shaking this sky trash as she called them. As she got closer to the Pabol Sleheyron route, she started to worry. These gunners weren’t shaking, and she was growing tired of it all. Finally, she could see the Maw in sight. If they got even a single shot off on her, she’d be toast. It’s times like this that she missed Poe the most. For all their issues, she couldn’t deny that Poe was an exceptional pilot that could get out of almost anything. Zaps of blaster fire sped through her right and left sides as they missed time and time again. If she went through the Maw, she could lose them for good, but she’d really have to time that perfectly or else she’d be sucked into the Maw herself. She was faster than those TIE fighters so she thought she could make it. She did a barrel roll to avoid the double fire that came at her and then immediately engaged her hyper thrusters to pull her through the Maw. The TIEs couldn’t get that close, so they dropped their target follows and she got clear. With Kessel in view, she wondered how the planet might have changed politically during these uncertain times. She stopped ignoring Poe’s hails in comms.

“Yeah, sorry had to get clear of some TIEs,” she said to Poe. “You had me absolutely panicking, Zorii, why is it that your first thought is to run away? Wait…. what do you mean clear of some TIEs?” Poe was a flurry of emotions in that moment. Hearing her voice again was somehow comforting but to hear she may be in trouble revved up his worry again. “I think my ship has been tagged as Resistance,” Zorii said not trying to answer the first part of the question Poe had posed to her. “That’s bad news, Zo. Just drop the run and come back, stay with Rey and Kylo Ren if that’s what you really want,” Poe said. “I can’t I accepted the contract Poe, and its 1000 credits. My whole world came crashing down, Poe. There is nothing left, I can’t retrieve any Galactic credits the crew had saved up and we got repairs to make on all our ships,” Zorii said once again making it a point to not address the elephant in the room. Poe knew she was doing that on purpose. “We might have to get you a new ship,” Poe said. “Hell no, the _Comeuppance_ has been with me since I was 16, I am not letting her go, Poe,” she countered. “No one said you have to get rid of her, but if you are going to put yourself into this much trouble, you might not want to do it as a Resistance sympathizer,” Poe shot back. Zorii sighed. “I guess. Maybe I am just now marked for the rest of my life as such,” Zorii said with frustration. “Maybe, you helped us take down the Final Order, not something people would forget; on both sides,” Poe said. A silent moment would pass between them before Poe would directly ask, “Are you going to Tatooine after this is done?” Zorii started to input the coordinates of her check point on Kessel, “I gave Rey my word,” Zorii said. “So, you’re not coming back here, then? When are we going to talk?” Poe shot the questions over. Zorii fell quiet again. “No, I am not going to Crait. I’ll need to lay low. Rey and Ben have a lot to work through on that homestead, so I’ll help them a bit while there,” Zorii said. “And we’re just never going to talk about us, then?” Poe asked. “I am breaking atmo, Poe. Maybe… I dunno. My mind is just on the fact that I am homeless, right now.” Zorii said to Poe almost feeling the sting of her own tears. She fought them back. “No, you’re not. Wherever my home is, Zo, that’s your home too, you know that. I love you still. Always will,” Poe said waiting for her to reply. A few seconds passed, the connection breaking up as Zorii traversed the thick atmosphere of Kessel. “I just can’t talk about it now, I need to do the job,” she finally answered and cut off the comms.

Zorii found her waypoint and touched down with her ship. She put her hand on her blaster as she exited, just to be sure. The contact was waiting for her; a Clawdite male who presented himself in his normal form. Clawdites are also known as “changelings” and often take on other forms. They are known to be scoundrels, thieves, mercenaries, and bounty hunters. His name was Fer Digan, “I got good news and bad news, which one do you want first?” He asked as Zorii approached. “Hit me with the bad news, finish me up with the good,” she answered him quickly. She was familiar with Digan, and his crew. They pretty much ran the underground in Kessel. “I got 3 portions instead of 6; you were late,” he retorted. “That’s not going to work for the Ponta twins, and I do not think you want to get on their bad side,” Zorii said. “Not my problem, you were 20 minutes late,” Fer snapped back. “It will be your problem when they come looking for you because they paid for 6,” Zorii countered. Fer gave Zorii a soft laugh; she wasn’t amused. “They wouldn’t be able to land on this planet without me knowing about it. You’ll have to come back tomorrow, hopefully on time, to grab the rest,” Fer said. “No. I will take the 6 I am owed, now,” Zorii demanded. “With everything going on right now in the galaxy, you have very little room to make demands, Bliss,” Fer shot back. Zorii really did not like anyone calling her by her last name, at all. Her blood was beginning to boil. “I will wait until you have all 6. I’ll be in my ship, oh and you better message Lyra and Shaya and let them know while you’re back there,” Zorii said wanting to have him take the blame for anything that may go awry. Fer thought a moment, “I will be sure to tell them you were 20 minutes late.” “And that you gave away their portions to other clients,” Zorii added as she returned to her ship. She immediately put a comms message to the Ponta twins before Digan could. Waiting would mean she might not make it back to Tatooine. She hailed Poe again.

Poe ran back to his office to take the call from Zorii, “You okay?” He asked. “Yeah… bad news, Digan parted with half of the Ponta’s portions because I had to shake those TIE fighters off of me, apparently I was 20 minutes late,” Poe knew what that meant, “So you’re waiting for it?” “Yeah,” Zorii said pausing a bit before continuing, “not leaving here without what the Ponta’s paid for; it’s not an option.” Poe knew that. “So, I will have to let Rey know that you may not make the 24 hour mark. I am not happy about that, given the state of our galaxy right now,” Poe said. “Nothing I can do about what you are and aren’t happy about, Poe. This is what it is, I accepted the contract,” Zorii said. “There is something that would make me very happy,” Poe interjected. Zorii got quiet. “I can’t talk about that, now.” Poe scoffed, “You never do, Zo! It’s maddening. I am sitting here offering you my heart on a platter,” Poe exclaimed. “Well, stop doing that!” Zorii said. “Easier said than done, I’ve tried for four years to stop feeling what I feel. I can’t do that anymore. This is what it is, Zo. I have loved you all my life and want to love only you for the rest of it. I want to make our own home, our own life. I’ve never seen myself doing that with anyone but you,” Poe said. Zorii’s eyes couldn’t hold back the tears, “Ughhh….” she sniffled, “I hate it when you do this.” Poe sighed deeply, “Do what Zo? Love you?” Zorii wiped her eyes, “Yes!!! I don’t deserve that.” The silence crept up again between them both. “Well, the good news is that you don’t have to believe you deserve love to get it, look at Kylo Ren,” Poe said. “Ben Solo, Poe. Ben Solo.” Zorii corrected him. “He is both, if you think he’s killed Kylo Ren, you’re sadly mistaken,” Poe said. “Finally, something else to talk about,” Zorii said as she wiped her nose and eyes dry. “I don’t think he could ever kill the dark side of him, and frankly why would he want to? You know doing good by others is a _choice_ , the means by which you do it aren’t black and white. They can be grey sometimes,” Zorii said. “Zo,” Poe started and grew quiet, “I just want to know what you feel if anything? Am I going to wait on you forever?” Zorii sighed again, “Well that was short lived. What do you want to know Poe? If I love you still? If that’s not obvious to you by the fact I handed you my Captain’s medallion back on Kijimi, I don’t know what is. I asked you to come with me!!!!” Zorii smacked the console of her ship in frustration. “You asked me to walk away from this war, Zo. And I couldn’t do that, but how I feel about you has not changed,” Poe said. “Well, it hasn’t changed for me either and now I got to go. But I will call on you when I depart here,” Zorii said. “Promise?” Poe asked. Zorii sighed again, “Oh my god, you’re so annoying… yes I promise!” She said and cut off the connection. She sat there lost in her thoughts. Could she really have a slice of real happiness? Why would she be entitled to that? She had done pretty unspeakable things in her short lifetime.

Poe held the commlink in his hand a while, thinking. His heart felt a fire burning deep in it. The woman he’d given his whole heart to also had a pretty varied background. If she was a fan of this newly minted version of Kylo Ren, when he was at least in part responsible for the destruction of her home world, she must have seen something good in him. He sighed. He knew getting anyone to accept Kylo Ren would take an act of divinity. For now, he was happy to finally hear her say the words, albeit hidden under sarcasm, he had longed to hear. He moved to the Hologram table room, he called upon Rey in Finn’s ship. He was hoping she wouldn’t answer, which would mean she turned off her comms station on the ship as he instructed. Sure enough, it went to leave a message. “Rey, its Poe. Zorii ran into a hiccup with the contract she’s running, she may not make the 24 hour mark, but she’s committed to getting back to Tatooine. Here is the thing, the _Falcon_ needs to reup supplies, and I can’t have Finn piloting such a hot ship, but Ren surely could fly back so we can load up with supplies. I’ll leave Finn here to help, because we desperately need it right now, and I’ll fly back with lover boy. It will give me a chance to talk to him and to talk to Zorii. When you get this, let me know if that sounds like a plan.” Poe closed the connection.

## Freedom Might Be Free

Rey was crossing into the Corellian Run, she could see Coruscant in the distance. She knew that’s where the old Jedi Temple had once been. It had been a majestic place, or so she had heard the stories, and silently she wondered if there could ever be another built there. Coruscant is the center of the Core Planets. It was filled with cosmopolitan society and colossal skyscrapers that would touch the atmosphere; if the galaxy had a Capital Planet, Coruscant would be it. If a Republic would be rebuilt, she would imagine it being rebuilt on Coruscant proper. It had been the first world to rise up and drive the First Order militant rule from their land. She sighed. She hadn’t even been to Coruscant, ever.

 ** _“I’ll take you one day.”_** Ben sent her through their ever-present Force Bond. She smiled. He genuinely believed that. **_“Someday, I am sure.”_** She sent back pausing a bit before adding, **_“Tell me about it.”_** She requested. Ben smiled; he was happy to oblige. **_“Well interestingly enough the old Jedi temple was located there, but the whole thing was converted over to suit Emperor Palpatine’s central home during his reign and became the Imperial Palace. Sadly, in recent times the gangs have all but taken the entire planet over. But if we ever get to rectify that situation, I’d love to take you to the Galaxies Opera House one day.”_** Ben said. Rey let herself dream a bit. **_“An actual proper date?”_** Ben laughed. **_“That would be my first.”_** Rey chuckled. **_“Same.”_** The two would go on to talk about all the places in Coruscant that Ben and his parents had visited. Rey delighted in his stories. She had not seen as much as he had, partly because he was the son of a sitting Senator in the New Republic. He told her of the Uscru District and the Outlander Club that his father had taken him to once, unbeknownst to his mother. He told her of the shopping trips his mother would drag him to in Monument Plaza, oh he hated shopping with her. **_“Every few steps we would be stopped by someone wanting a picture or an autograph of her.”_** Ben laughed before he continued. **_“I always found it so annoying, and now I look back on all of it fondly.”_** Rey chuckled. **_“I love hearing you this way, you make me want to see all of these places with you.”_** Rey said. **_“Ahh, well first we’ll have to liberate Coruscant from the grip that the gangs have on it.”_** Ben stated and he went on to tell Rey about the current situation and the dangers of going there now. **_“We’ll have to restore it somehow.”_** Rey said. **_“Together.”_** Ben said as he smiled. **_“Yes, together.”_** Rey acknowledged. To her everything they did from now on would be together. Rey wanted to check if Zorii had left her a message, so they hit the pause button reeling back into reality. As Rey checked, she found Poe’s message.

Ben managed to sit down on the bed in his room as Finn was testing the water flow around the entire place. He was about to get up when Rey reached back out to him through their Force Bond. **_“Zorii ran into some delays. I don’t like it. I almost feel like heading towards Kessel.”_** Rey said to Ben as he sat back down on the bed. **_“No. Not in that ship! Kessel was already the central place of crime lords, after what we did, it has got to be extremely dangerous.”_** Ben stated, first time telling her a sharp _no_. **_“Are you telling me I cannot go?”_** Rey protested. **_“That’s exactly what I am telling you. Not without me, and not without a war-capable ship!”_** Ben really put his foot down. Something about that really vexed Rey and his protectiveness was no longer cute. **_“Hmmmph. If I want to go, I will go.”_** Rey scoffed at him. Ben shot up from the bed. **_“Don’t do that. Don’t do something just to go against me.”_** Ben said. **_“Wouldn’t be the first time I go against what you want from me, now would it?”_** Rey gained a sharp tone in her voice. **_“I swear I’ll hop in the Falcon and go get you.”_** Ben wasn’t kidding. Rey could sense his anger rising in him. She backed off and Ben noticed her change in disposition. **_“Oh no, no don’t do that either. I can be angry and stay cool, I am not some petulant child that throws a temper tantrum.”_** Ben snapped at her as he started to walk out of his room to the kitchen where the keys to the _Falcon_ were. Rey interceded. **_“Ben, stop. I won’t go okay. I promise.”_** Rey said, her tone a bit gentler. Finn was walking over to the kitchen when he noticed Ben, an agitated Ben. “What’s going on?” Finn immediately asked thinking Rey might be in trouble. “She will be if she dares to go to Kessel on her own right now,” Ben couldn’t help himself. **_“Is that Finn?”_** Rey asked. Ben didn’t answer. “KESSEL! What in the galaxies is she thinking about?” Finn joined the agitation coming from Ben at that point. “Doesn’t she know that the world is turned upside down now?” Finn said. “Apparently not,” Ben answered Finn; Rey heard him. **_“Apparently not what?”_** Rey asked. “Apparently you do not know how dangerous it is out there.” Ben responded. “For all we know she could have a bounty on her head, as most of us do. I am sure the First Order can afford an exponentially undeniable bounty on us all,” Finn said. **_“Ben, I am coming home now. About an hour and a half away.”_** Rey said. **_“You better be.”_** Ben sent her privately. “She’s coming here, Zorii ran into some delays in Kessel,” Ben told Finn while he pondered a bit on the idea that they all may have bounties on them set by the First Order, most likely under his leadership. “Ohhh good, you had me panicking. And what the hell is Zorii doing in Kessel??? I mean, you have got to be kidding me!” Finn slammed a fist on the counter of the kitchen out of sheer frustration.

Ben sat in the stool, deep in thought. **_“And for the record, Ben, you can ask and present your case as to why I shouldn’t do something, but you cannot demand me to----”_** Rey stopped. Both Finn and Rey then said at the same time, one through their Force Bond, the other in his own voice. **_“Are you listening to me?”_** “Are you listening to me?” Ben looked to Finn, “If they think I am dead, they will not have a reason to close all my accounts and access,” Ben said to him, “no one closed all of Snoke’s accounts and I was able use them all myself. Of course, transferring it all to my accounts, eventually.” Finn looked at him. Rey immediately chimed in. **_“No! Ben if you do that, they’ll know you’re alive.”_** Ben countered, “They would be too broke to do anything about it.” Finn’s eyes grew wide, “You mean to tell me that we could clean out their bank accounts?” Ben looked at him, “Yes! I can.” Finn chuckled and shook his head, “And how much are we talking about?” “All of it, something crazy like 734 trillion credits,” Ben said. Finn’s mouth dropped open and he slumped into the stool next to Ben. **_“We wouldn’t even know what to do with that much money.”_** Rey sent over her bond to Ben. “I do. Rebuild a Republic,” Ben said. Finn and Rey both sat in silence at the words that had just departed from Ben’s mouth. Finally, Finn said, “Well, that’s one way to definitively end the First Order.”

## Some Decisions to Make

Zorii heard a knock on her door, she unsheathed her blaster, holding it behind her as she opened the door. A droid was at the door with a message. “Order 43-8445 Ready.” She locked up the _Comeuppance_ and made her way to Digan’s front office. “43-8445,” she told the receptionist and handed her a chip card. The exchange drawer with a fingerprint reader was pushed out to her. Zorii took her glove off and put her thumb on it. The light on it turned green and the drawer disappeared. It opened again with a sealed bag in it. She felt a presence behind her to the left. “Hutta; new location. Sent over by Ponta,” Fer Digan addressed her. “Not what we agreed on,” Zorii said. Traveling anywhere in Hutt space would prove difficult, she knew that. “Don’t shoot the messenger,” Digan said showing her his handheld comms pad. “What are the twins doing there?” Zorii asked. “I don’t ask questions,” Fer said. “I am going to need an extra 500 credits; you know Hutt space is volatile. And I’d need another 500 if I am to sneak in,” Zorii said. Digan started to type on the data pad, “Approved,” he paused, “on both counts.” “Kriff! Fine whatever.” Fer extended her the data pad, holding it for her, Zorii swiped her thumb on the reader part accepting the deal. Zorii walked out of there slowly putting her glove back on and cursing in several languages, pulling her blaster out as the door to the building shut behind her. As she got into the _Comeuppance_ , she immediately hailed Poe. 

“HUTT SPACE?!?!” Poe screamed at her. “Lower your voice,” Zorii warned. “No, Zo’ please don’t do this. The galaxy is in turmoil, any place like that now will be extra dangerous and may be seeing civil wars,” Poe stated. “You know this business, Poe, better than most. Do I have a choice?” Zorii asked him. “KRIFF!” Poe shouted again. “Why do you stubbornly put yourself right smack in the middle of it all!?!” Poe asked exasperated. “Because I have done so only my ENTIRE LIFE!” Zorii shouted back. Silence befell them both. “I’ll be fine, and don’t you dare send Rey out there by herself. Matter of fact, don’t kriffin’ tell her!” Zorii said. Poe didn’t speak. “Poe?!?” Zorii wanted him to confirm. “Yeah,” Poe said unable to form any more words that were not wrapped in pure rage and worry. Zorii closed comms.

Poe of course wouldn’t listen, so he went to hail Rey on Finn’s ship. But she didn’t have comms turned on. “Kriff!” he shouted in his office. Then out of nowhere, he took the commlink and smashed it on the floor, “Kriff! Kriff! Kriff!” No one made him happier than Zorii Bliss, and no one made him angrier than Zorii Bliss. Rose had been passing by the hall when she heard him. She tapped on the door that had been left slightly ajar, “What the hell is going on?” She asked as she pushed the door open more. “Nothing.” Poe leaning against a wall slowly slumped to the floor. “Oh, because that looks like nothing,” Rose said pointing to the shattered commlink on the floor of his office. “Zorii drives me crazy!” Poe confessed. “Because you love her?” Rose asked. Poe and Rose locked eyes and the answer was written on his face. Rose went to sit next to him, leaning her own back against the wall. Poe leaned his head back against the wall. “Love is a crazy thing,” she said. Poe asked her, “Ever been in love before?” Rose pulled her knees up into her chest, “A few times. My first boyfriend’s name was Ross; we got made fun of a lot. Ross and Rose,” she answered. “Because what I feel right now is like ripping me from the inside out,” Poe said before continuing, “and I knew it as soon as we headed to Kijimi that it would all surface again.” Rose turned her head to him, “Zorii?” Poe sighed deeply. “Yes, I thought I could just leave it all behind. Join the Resistance and be the hero my mother was, my father was. But nope. It has never gone away, no matter how hard I have tried,” Poe said. Rose leaned her own head back against the wall, “I know what you mean.” Rose was thinking about Finn at that moment, but she had not been able to really articulate to herself, let alone to Finn, what she felt. They had been through something ridiculously hard, thus Rose thought it was a passing moment in time. Poe looked over to his friend, “What about Finn?” Rose sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t really know if what I felt at that time was just a product of the entire “we’re facing death” thing or if it’s something I could entertain. Our work isn’t done here, we have a LOT to do and there really isn’t time to explore it at all, you know?” Rose said. “I think he fancies you, though,” Poe said to her. “Maybe, sure, but it’s nothing at all like what you’re feeling Poe. This is like a passing thing, but what I think you and Zorii have is something that can be built up and molded into something great. I can tell when she looks at you, she definitely cares about you. But she also has been pulled into the black hole that is being responsible for her friends and herself after her entire planet was quite literally deleted from the galaxy, that’s a big deal, you feel me?” Rose said to Poe. Poe stared at his friend, smiling he said, “You have wisdom beyond your years Rose.” Rose chuckled, “So they have always said. My sister Paige used to say that all the time, that I was like 20 going on 40!” Poe reached out to grab her hand, “I am responsible for what happened to Pae-Pae, and I am sorry for it.” Rose’s eyes watered a bit, “Poe, she died doing something she truly believed in; we should all be that lucky.” A tear rolled down Rose’s cheek, and she wiped it away with her free hand. “I take comfort in the fact that we won the war and she helped us do that.” Poe gave her hand a slight squeeze before gently letting it go, “That she did.” Just in that moment, Lt. Connix ran into Poe’s office, “Uhhh, General… we’re getting reports that the Hutts will be moving to retake Kessel and Eadu from Digan’s rule; could be the start of territorial wars in the region. And we’ve just gotten another 114 refugees today, running low on food,” Lt. Connix said. Rose and Poe both shot up. “Prep munitions, Rose,” Poe said to Rose. He turned to Lt. Connix and ordered, “Get Red Squadron loaded in defense formation around the planet, Kay.” Lt. Connix nodded and left the room with Rose in tow right behind her heading for the Engineers Cove.

Poe moved to pick up the shattered commlink and threw it away. He moved to grab another of the small but effective devices from the charging station where he had several. He connected to the hologram table in the conference room and dialed out to Rey’s ship again. Still went straight to the message relay system, “Rey, its Poe. The Hutts are mounting an offensive against Digan territory to reclaim Kessel and Eadu, this could prove trouble in Hutt Space or anything close to Kessel. I’ve asked Red Squadron to patrol the planet here on Crait just to be on the lookout for anything that may come this way. Tatooine is closer to Hutt Space than we are, so I am slightly worried you may feel some repercussions from what’s about to happen. But what I am really worried about it Zorii. She didn’t want me to tell you this, but she got what she needed on Kessel but was told to deliver it to Hutta & Shaadda, right smack in the middle of all this drukk. I’ll try to hail her, but she might already be close to the drop off. I don’t know what to do! I am so so worried now. Poe over and out,” Poe clicked the commlink off and then tried to hail the _Falcon_. Same thing there, the comms system had been shut down to avoid unnecessary scans searching for that ship’s signature. He left a similar message for Finn on the _Falcon_.

He tried to hail Zorii. To his surprise, she responded. “I don’t got time for this Poe, I am about to break atmo---” Zorii said being cut off by Poe, “Zo! No… get out of there, the Hutts are declaring war on the Digans to retake Kessel and Eadu. I don’t have to tell you how bloody the Hutts can be,” Poe said with a sense of urgency in his voice. “WHAT?!” Zorii said, adding “Kriff!” at the end of it. “Please come home, Zo. I am begging you,” Poe pleaded. Zorii knew there was no way she could do that without having the Pontas on her ass; they’d bounty her up right away. She sighed, “Poe, I can’t do that. You know I can’t! Let me get back to you as soon as I am off world.” “Zo, please say it,” Poe appealed. Zorii slammed her helmet to the back of her pilot’s chair, “Poe,” she said her voice cracking. “Please,” Poe was begging her. “I love you,” she said and cut off her comms. Poe would go on to break a few commlinks for the next few hours waiting to hear from Zorii.

## Han and Leia

Finn stared at Ben, “I am not sure you should do that.” Ben had locked eyes with the man that he had once called a traitor. He had admiration for Finn now, which he couldn’t have had back then. Finn had been strong enough to realize what he was doing was wrong and had the courage to make a choice. As far as friends go, Ben knew that Finn would make for a good one. He was kind, selfless, brave, and loyal. In many ways these were the qualities that he admired in his own father. “You’d immediately be a target,” Finn continued. “Sooner or later they’ll have to know. If we leave the funds in there, whoever takes up the reign would eventually deplete it as I did of Snoke’s,” Ben countered. Finn put his hand to his chin, rubbing it pensively. “Finn, a T-85 X-wing costs 220,000 credits brand new. Do you know how many you could get for 734 trillion?” Ben asked, the left side of his mouth turned up in a grin. “I am still not sure about that,” Finn said. Ben thought to himself that if that had been offered to him as Supreme Leader he wouldn’t have given it a second thought. If he was being honest, he probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought even now. “What would Leia do?” Finn asked. Ben flinched. The sound of his mother’s name on someone other than Rey was really foreign to him. She had always been addressed so formally by other senators and the aristocracy of both Coruscant and later Chandrila. Only real friends of hers ever called her by her name and his father, of course. But all he could remember was the innocent details of times when he was very young, he didn’t get to know the General of the Resistance. “What was she like?” Ben answered Finn with his own question. Finn looked at Ben; he felt sympathy for him. Finn placed his left arm on the counter, sighed, “Kind.” Finn said softly. “If I could sum up Leia Organa Solo in one word, it would be kind. She was always happy to see you, walking the halls of our bases or headquarters, it was genuine. There was a light around her, I swear she glowed,” Finn said. Ben had turned his head straight, just listening to Finn staring blankly at the wall behind the sink in the kitchen. Finn continued, “Oh and a great teacher, she always had a way of pointing out your errors but following it up with suggestions on improving them, a sort of balance. And fair, she always asked for your opinion and honestly considered it. She might have gone with someone else’s ideas or suggestions, but you always felt heard and validated. She was everything I ever pictured my own mother would have been, if I had ever known her,” Finn said as his eyes watered a little. How he missed her. His eyes were locked on Ben, whose face was streaked with tears now. Finn’s heart could relate to Ben in that moment. It’s almost like Ben never got to know his own mother either. Ben felt the energy that came in waves towards him from Finn, “I didn’t.” Ben said through soft sobs. Finn sighed and went to put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. Ben would flinch at the touch which caused Finn to immediately recoil and brace himself, the tears on Ben’s face wouldn’t stop. Ben immediately whispered, “Monster.” Finn shook his head, “No, man. Broken. Like the rest of us.” Ben looked at him, “Did you get to know my father?” Finn sighed slightly. “Yes, but for a much shorter time,” Finn answered. Ben reached up with a sleeve to annoyingly wipe his chin and face of the tears that now fell freely. “Tell me about them,” Ben urged Finn. Finn took a deep breath. He realized that this was part of Ben’s transition from a Sith Lord to a Jedi, from Dark to Light. He paused for a moment; his thoughts were racing but he felt compassion for the man that sat next to him in this kitchen inside the dwelling that housed his famous, legendary uncle. Finn felt worry, doing this without Rey here. Ben shot him a pleading look. Finn couldn’t deny him this small concession after Ben had told him intimate details about his own existence.

“I definitely can tell you some stories about Leia, much more than Han. Standing inside the _Falcon_ , however, you can feel him all around it,” Finn started. Ben’s eyes were locked on him, “Yes,” was all the young man could muster up to say. “He loved that ship. He told us stories of his days before the war, when it was just Chewie and him when we flew from Jakku to Takodana to find Maz Kanata. Chewie had been shot in the arm there and I had to figure out how to bandage it up. He didn’t like me at all!” Finn chuckled. “He hardly ever does,” Ben said. “Well he loved Rey right away. They both did,” Finn countered. “He had tracked the _Falcon_ and pulled us in by tractor beam, we thought it was First Order, but it was Han and Chewie, searching for the ship they called “home”. And then he told us he was hauling rathtars!” Finn continued reminiscing. “Rathtars? As in plural?” Ben inquired. “Oh yeah, three,” Finn said. Ben still teary eyed managed to grin a bit at that fact. “He said they are pack animals, so he would get more for them as a pack. Han was to deliver them to King Prana but in the middle of transferring them after he had re-acquired the _Falcon_ , with Rey and I on it, we were stopped by the Guavian Death Gang and seconds later, Kanjiklub. They boarded the _Eravana_ , your dad’s Corellian heavy freighter. They both had a score to settle,” Finn told Ben. “Not surprising,” Ben said. He had broken from his gaze at Finn, looking at his hands nervously fiddling with his fingers. “Han hid Rey and I right away in the lower corridors, he didn’t even give it a second thought. He didn’t want us to be caught in what was surely to happen next,” Finn said. “He protected you?” Ben inquired. “Yes, without question. It was really Han that got BB-8 to show him the map, we were just bystanders,” Finn said. “How did you defeat the Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub?” Ben asked; his tears more subdued now turning back to face Finn. Finn let out a small laugh, “Can you guess?” Ben half smiled and whispered, “Rey.” “Yup, by complete accident. She had meant to trap the gangs in the corridors of the _Eravana_ , and instead released the rathtars! They almost got me too,” Finn said. “That’s so like her, always trying to help,” Ben said. “Yeah, its innate in her. But man, I thought I was toast! I think she orchestrated some doors to slam shut as one rathtar had me in its grip, not sure. But she saved my life and took out most of the rival gang members on board. That’s when Chewie got hurt and we boarded the _Falcon_ to escape,” Finn explained. Ben’s demeanor had changed a bit and his tears had all but dried up. “Then Han did something that frankly we didn’t think was possible,” Finn said with a smile. “He engaged hyperdrive thrusters right from the freaking hangar! And poof, we were gone.” Ben actually smiled at the story being recounted to him, “My father was an exceptional pilot,” Finn nodded, “Oh yeah, and on that ship, he was something else. It was like he felt every inch of that ship in his soul.” Finn paused, he realized now why Ben didn’t want to see the _Falcon_ leave his sights. That same connection, the one Han had with the legendary ship, Ben has now. It solidified to Finn how different the man was now. And it also made him sad. Ben had wasted so much time in the death grip of the Sith Lords Sidious and Snoke; he never experienced the sides of his parents that were good, fair, just, and compassionate. That emptiness was so tangible to Finn because he had never had parents of his own. He had been ripped away from his family as a small child by the Sith to serve as a slave for the First Order. The two men looked at each other and nodded, a kinship had been formed there. “I am sorry that you never got to know your family,” Ben said. Finn replied, “I borrowed yours.” Ben smiled slightly. 

Finn dared to ask, “Do you remember how they were together?” Ben flicked his eyes back down to his hands. “Understand Finn, I have a hard time telling what is real and what were the manifestations of Snoke or Palpatine. The further I get from that influence, the more I’ll remember I think, or rather I hope. But I do remember a lot of it happening on the _Falcon_. My father would often insist on personally escorting my mother to her senate trips when I was really little,” Ben looked back to Finn. “That makes sense, he was protective of his family,” Finn said. Ben nodded. “I spent a lot of time with Chewie and C-3PO when Mom was off playing Senator. My dad taught me to fly the _Falcon_ when I was just 8 years old. Mom was so mad when she found out,” Ben said with a smile. “He didn’t stop teaching you did he?” Finn inquired. Ben actually chuckled, “Nope. He just got better at hiding it from Mom.” Finn smiled. “They loved each other very much, but as I grew older and fell further into the madness of the Dark Side, their marriage disintegrated,” Ben said, his voice melancholier now. There was a silence between them for about a minute or so. Ben finally broke it, “How is the water running now?” Finn felt that Ben had had enough of the walk down memory lane. For now.


	7. Chapter 6: Galactic Repercussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The fall of the First Order has caused a vacuum of power in the galaxy that the Resistance didn’t see coming, especially since the Republic crumbled, law and protection along with it. The Hutts saw this as an opportunity to regain control of the Kessel system from the Digans, who had succeeded in taking over the Pyke Syndicate._
> 
> _Ben struggles with both sides of his nature. Having to fall back to his Kylo Ren persona has left him shaken but he realizes he is not alone in finding his way back to his true self._

## Hutt Space

As Ben and Finn continued to discuss the improvements they were making at the old dwelling, he suddenly felt something. He knew it was Rey. ** _“Ben, I just got a message from Poe. The Hutts are marching on the Digans to retake Kessel and Eadu. Zorii is smack in the middle of it, I am landing in 20 minutes or so. We have to go get her!”_** Rey sent him through their Force Bond. Ben replied out loud, “I’ll go get the _Falcon_ started.” Finn stood up, “What is it?” He could sense an urgency in Ben. “Zorii. She’s in danger. The Hutts are declaring war on the Digans. Rey wants to go get her,” Ben said to Finn. Finn shook his head, “Not alone.” Ben nodded. “Wait you can’t, if they see you, they’ll report your existence to the First Order, Ben,” Finn had put his hand in front of Ben to keep him from rushing out of the front door. “It’s a risk I’ll have to take; her and I, we’re better, stronger together,” Ben explained as he clipped Anakin’s lightsaber to his belt. Finn sighed, “Fine, but we need to keep a low profile then.” Ben looked at him, “Right, how?” Finn thought about that, “Well, Hutt Space right… dress as they would blend in.” Ben smiled, “Yes. Let me see what my uncle Luke had around here if anything.” Ben managed to find at least a leather coat and a tattered brown hooded cloak. It would have to do. He grabbed a few other garments for Rey and Finn as well.

The two of them rushed outside, where BB-8 met them at the ramp of the _Falcon_ , now extended down to receive them. Finn directed his gaze to the droid, “Start her up, turn on all systems.” BB-8 rushed inside ahead of the two men, jacking himself into the droid port near the helm. The _Falcon_ roared to life. As Ben and Finn scurried up the ramp, Finn shouted to Ben, “I’ll check munitions.” Ben nodded and replied back, “I got the helm, prepping departure. I really need to fix this compressor!” Just as Ben popped into the captain’s chair, a light shone through the helm’s main window, Ben knew it was Rey landing in Finn’s small craft. He started to hail the _Comeuppance_ to see if Zorii would answer, but nothing. He tried again as he watched Rey running from the small planet hopper onto the ramp. She closed the ramp behind her and found Finn checking on munitions, “Finn!” She exclaimed as he turned to face her, the two best friends hugged tightly. “Ben insisted on coming with us,” Finn said to her. She nodded, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Finn grinned, “Try telling him that,” he said. Rey moved towards the cockpit, “Ben!” Ben was busy getting all systems online, “Not happening, Rey. I am going with you and we will stay out of sight,” Ben said to Rey as she hopped in the co-pilot’s chair. Just then a hail came through comms, both Ben and Rey said at the same time, “Poe.” Rey answered on the hologram at the helm, “We’re going to help her, Poe.” Poe sighed with relief as he walked towards the Resistance Hanger, shooting a quick look to Ben returning his gaze on to Rey. “She has to finish the contract, Rey or they’ll put a bounty on her head,” Poe said. Ben looked to Rey, “It’s true, that’s how that works. If she signed it, she’s bound to it.” Poe looked over to Ben and then back to Rey. “No, we need to just get her and get out!” Rey exclaimed. “She won’t go with you until the job is done, it’s a lot of spice Rey. And now we know why the Pontas wanted to extract it out of Kessel. And she won’t leave her ship either,” Poe said. Ben still looking at Rey said, “When we leave, you take the _Falcon_ , I’ll pilot the _Comeuppance_ ,” Ben offered. There was nothing that Ben Solo could not pilot. Not only was he as exceptional as his father, but he also surpassed him because of the lineage of Anakin Skywalker. “That ship means everything to her,” Poe said not looking at Ben. Ben replied, “I’ll be careful with it.” Poe said to Rey, not wanting to directly address Ben. “Rey, I’ve tried to hail her and nothing,” Poe said. Rey asked, “Do you know if she’s crossed atmo?” Poe sighed, “No. She only said she’d contact me when she’s off-world.” Rey looked at Ben, who just said, “Ready.” Rey looking back to Poe said, “We’ll find her, Poe. I promise!” Poe responded as he made the turn towards his ship, “Okay, let me know when you cross into Hutt Space. I’ll round up Black Squadron and the Spice Crew; meet you at Daalang’s south orbit.”

Ben slowly took to lift off, BB-8 rolled up to the cockpit giving Rey a few happy beeps, “Me too, BB-8. Did the boys get along?” BB-8 beeped a few times answering Rey. She looked to Ben, “You got the water running?” Ben smiled saying, “Yes, well Finn mostly did it.” Just then Finn came into the cockpit and sat behind Ben, “We’ll need new supplies to be able to get everything running right,” Finn said to Rey. Ben was breaking through Tatooine’s atmosphere. “Hyperdrive thrusters ready,” Rey said. Ben engaged it as soon as he was clear, and they disappeared into the Corellian Run. “Did my dad ever install a cloaking device?” Ben asked. “No, not that I have seen,” Rey said. Finn asked, “Would that be available to a ship this old?” Ben put the _Falcon_ on autopilot, “Not without some modifications, and finding those parts would be hard,” Ben said. Rey added, “But worth it.” Finn pondered the conversations from earlier between them, “Well if we had unlimited funds, we could get that for all our ships.” Rey looked back to Finn, “Or just get new ships.” Ben thought about it all himself now. “We can’t just use any Galactic Bank access point as those are traced and we really need to think about what comes after,” Ben said. 

Rey thought to herself a moment, “How would we go about rebuilding a Republic?” She asked looking at Finn. Finn pointed to himself, “You’re asking me?” Finn then pointed to Ben, “Ask him.” Ben pondered this a moment, “Well Senate Code states that any seating Senator that is killed in service passes the right to the seat to their immediate heirs in the interim.” Rey looked to Ben, “So, that is really you, as Leia’s heir.” Finn added, “Provided he outs himself to the First Order.” Ben looked to Rey. Rey locked on to his gaze, a slight frown on her face. “Would you be okay with that life? It’s not easy,” Ben said to her. “If it meant restoring stability to the galaxy, I’d have to be. I am not leaving your side,” Rey answered him. Finn was a fly on the wall; quietly thinking that Rey should train a new generation of Jedi. They heard his thoughts but stayed locked onto each other. “Also needed,” Ben said. Rey searched his eyes, “Do you mean we should separate?” She asked. Ben flinched, the words alone hurt, the thought of it was excruciating. “No!” He cried out quickly, “But we can do both. I’d only need to be Senator interim until the first election is held,” Ben quickly shot down the notion that they’d have to be part. Finn interjected, “There may be many of us out there, I know Jannah is also force-sensitive.” Ben swiveled his captain’s chair around to look at Finn, “Who is Jannah?” Rey put her hand on Ben’s own hand, which rested on his knee. “We found her and other former stormtroopers all living in Kef Bir,” Rey said to him. Finn added, “Company 77.” Ben’s eyes grew wide. He had heard of that defection before because he had seen the report that came through on them, back in 31 ABY at the Battle of Ansett Island. The entire company had defied the orders of Leader Snoke to kill innocent civilians after the battle was won. “TZ-1719?” He asked. Finn was amazed at how he remembered the stormtrooper number that had been assigned to Jannah. “You knew her?” Finn asked. Ben shook his head no, “No, but I read the entire report on them. We didn’t know that the orders hadn’t been carried out, just knew they never made it back. Since there was no report of any space battles involving them, we assumed they defected.” Finn smiled, “Jannah is force-sensitive, like me. And there is bound to be more like us out there,” Finn said looking to both Rey and Ben. They looked at each other. The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes as hyperspace streaked by them on all sides. Ben finally broke the stillness, “We have to get an untraceable datapad that can connect to the Galactic Bank systems,” Ben said. He turned back around and disengaged autopilot. “Where could we get access to one?” Rey asked. “Core worlds, maybe, Coruscant,” Ben said.

The _Falcon_ crossed over without a single hiccup into the Gamor Run. Where other pilots might have had to drop out of hyperspace to cross from one route to another, Ben could navigate this ship, particularly, to cross over at full lightspeed. Rey and Finn were surprised at just how good a pilot Ben was. Rey thought to herself that the _Falcon_ felt at home in his hands. After a few minutes, Ben dropped out of hyperspace near Daalang. 

Rey switched the commlink on, hailed Poe. “Black Leader, come in. Falcon Wing here.” Poe established the connection, “Falcon Wing, Black Leader here. Rey, I brought company.” Rey looked up and saw the squadrons. Poe added, “At the edge of Hutt Space, orbit around Daalang, Q12. I got Black Squadron and Spice Crew with me.” Rey said, “I see you.” She looked back to Finn. Poe continued, “We’ll be waiting here to provide cover. Where are you planning on landing?” Finn answered, “Not a clue.” Ben suggested, “Jerlaeson is a good place to start but we’re not necessarily landing.” Poe paused thinking that Ren was right, however, he said, “That place is highly dangerous, might be difficult to go unnoticed.” Rey looked to him, “Could we send BB-8 in to do a search and rescue, first?” Poe thinking about his droid, “Rey, he could get jacked for parts out there.” Rey immediately said, “Well, I could go in and search for her.” Ben would immediately object, “Rey, no. You have a bounty on your head from Snoke’s death.” Rey looked to him, “By the way, did you put that on me?” Ben swallowed, “Well, to be fair… I personally did not, but Allegiant General Pryde did.” Rey let out a low growl, “GRRRR….” Poe said, “Well I don’t think it’s smart to send you into a lion’s den full of bounty hunters when you have a bounty on your head!” Ben said to Rey, “The last person they’ll be looking for is me; they think I am dead.” Poe agreed on that, “He’s not wrong.” Ben looked to Rey, “Stay with the _Falcon_ , I’ll go in alone. We’ll still be able to communicate without anyone else knowing about it,” Ben said to her. “No!” Rey protested against sending her boyfriend into such a place. Finn put a hand on her forearm, “Rey we’ve never been here before, Ben has.” He could tell Ben knew this place; he felt it. Poe chimed in, “Can’t believe I am about to say this, but I agree with Ren. What you could do is look for the _Comeuppance_ , so that you don’t have to park and get noticed. The _Falcon’s_ pretty identifiable.” Rey shook her head, but she relented, “Okay, I don’t like it, but I’ll go with it for now. Take BB-8 with you!” Ben looked to her, he had to compromise as she had done for him. Balance. “Okay, I will,” Ben said turning his head to Finn, “Man the gunner just in case.” Ben hadn’t even given the droid a single thought. He had never needed the assistance of one before, why would he start now? He looked to the droid. “Okay, stay out of trouble.” BB-8 gave them all reassuring beeps. Ben looked to Rey, “You will drive when we’re close, Rey,” Ben continued, “do not land this ship; just get me close enough to jump,” Ben said to Rey. Finn looked between Ben and Rey, “Wait, how are we going to get BB-8 off of this ship without landing?” Rey flicked her eyes to Finn and then looked back to Ben and said, “I’ll move us into position. We can use our Force Bond, once we land, to move BB-8 through to each other, I think.” Ben looked to the droid and then back to Rey, “Shouldn’t be a problem; it should work just like moving lightsabers through the Force. We’ve done that before.” Finn had a look of confusion as he still didn’t know how they were going to get BB-8 off the ship without landing it.

Ben drove through space; he saw the moon of Nar Shaddaa as he closed in. Poe said to Rey, “I better get him back in one piece!” Ben smirked and said, “I can’t promise that.” Rey gave Ben a look. “Reyyyyy,” Poe pleaded with Rey as she turned to face him on the hologram. “He’ll be fine, Poe. I promise.” Poe sighed deeply, “Okay we’ll wait here. But bring Zorii home to me!” Rey smiled at Poe, “Falcon Wing out.” She closed the commlink.

## Bilbousa Saloon

Zorii had gone to the Orange Lady to meet up with a contact there. She had arrived a few minutes before and seen her old friend Hopper was there, who was the bar owner. He locked eyes with Zorii, shocked to see her back in his place, especially with news breaking out all over about the Hutts and Digans going to war. Hopper was an Ualaq subspecies of the Aqualish race, so he was much more refined than their native species back on their homeworld of Ando. They could speak basic, had four eyes instead of two, and had four fingers in each hand that made them more efficient than their descendants, the Aquala. Because of this, most Ualaq’s moved away from Ando to avoid the discrimination that they, and their Quara relatives, felt at the hands of the pure-bred Aquala. Zorii knew him to be a hot-headed man with a tendency for aggression, but he was also amiable to those he liked and considered friends, which Zorii was. He made his way to where Zorii was sitting, “What brings you here especially at this time?” He asked her, “Waiting for a contact, delivering a package.” Hopper asked the waiter to bring a round of drinks, “Complimentary, of course.” Zorii smiled, “I make it a point to never turn down a free drink.” The two of them would chat for a while over a drink. Zorii would learn that the Ualaq and Quora were having problems expanding their respective races in their homeworld due to the Aquala actively hunting them down. They were still suffering the effects of the Aqualish Civil War. Zorii learned that females were rare in their subspecies and males outnumber females 9 to 1. “Must be so hard to find a wife,” Zorii said. Hopper nodded and replied, “I was asked to share my wife with two other males. My wife, as you know, doesn’t live here with me. Typically, that decision is only for the husband to decide as females are considered property in our culture, but I asked her, and she said no,” he shrugged. Zorii asked him about Cassie, his young daughter. Hopper sighed, he knew the fate of his daughter if any Ualaq’s found out about her would be decided by the high council and not her or her parents. He’s kept her existence hidden for that reason. “She remains hidden away, the last thing I want for her is to become property like most Aqualish females are or worse a concubine. I’d like for her to live free,” he said. Zorii could tell this weighed heavy on his mind. 

Her contact came up to her table at that moment, Hopper looked to the man, he didn’t immediately recognize him, and back to Zorii, “I’ll take my leave. Don’t be a stranger, Bliss! Come see me again soon, hopefully after the Hutts retake Kessel,” he said to her. Zorii smiled and nodded, “Thanks for the drink, friend.” Hopper stood up and looked at the contact dead in the eye, “You start trouble with her, and you’ll deal with me.” The man nodded once, sitting across from Zorii. When she got a good look at him, she recognized him from the photograph that had been sent to her. He spoke, “I am Vashyr Broknada; work for the Pontas.” She nodded once, “What do you have for me?” He shifted moving closer towards Zorii, “Information. Shaya Ponta will meet you at Bilbousa Saloon in 30 minutes.” Zorii nodded, “Agreed.” She moved towards the exit of the cantina, looking to Hopper who was walking into his back office with Bala-Tik and his goons, they nodded to each other in acknowledgment. 

Zorii got to her ship quickly and moved from Nar Shaddaa over to Nal Hutta. She saw the capital, Bilbousa, on the horizon as she broke through the atmosphere of Hutta and proceeded towards the Ship Stall. She noticed the stall was full of ships, not like usual. Since Nar Shaddaa is where most scoundrel business is conducted, Nal Hutta had mostly been a residential area and for just the Hutts primarily or anyone that could pay the ruling Hutt the credits to carve out space on the swamp-covered planet. Most of Nal Hutta was almost always covered by rain that left behind a green swampy mist, leaving it hot and humid. It was perfect for a Hutt, but little else. So, to Zorii it was strange that the Ship Stall would be full. 

She had to find parking on the outskirts of the city. She saw a spot that was about 100 feet from the Bilbousa Saloon. She touched down and started to shut the _Comeuppance_ down. She grabbed a raincoat she kept behind her pilot’s chair, managing to get it on. As she climbed down, she locked up the ship. As she made her way to the city, she noticed how incredibly rushed some people seemed to be. Others were visibly preparing for the impending war and some treated it as just another day. She walked towards the Saloon, and as she walked through the front door, a few Hutts were fighting against each other in the pit to the right while a healthy mix of other species were crowding the area. She was sure they were all betting on the fight. The bar was also overrun with people all drinking and taking bets on the fight happening in the pits while watching it on the monitors all over. She looked around, she found Shaya Ponta and made her way to her. Shaya raised her hand to her guards and waved Zorii in. She had the back table and about 9 or 10 guards surrounding her. Zorii sat across from her, “This will cost you extra,” she said to Shaya, “because now I got to clean my ship off this filth.” Shaya chuckled; her voice muffled by her Beskar-crafted Mandalorian helmet, “I would have thought less of you Bliss if you didn’t demand more, Nal Hutta isn’t for everyone,” she said. Zorii put a sack of burlap on the table, “Six full portions of pure spice off of Kessel,” she said. Shaya took the bag, opening it and checking it once before tossing it over to one of her guards, who moved with two others towards the door. Zorii commented, “Except for now… why is Nal Hutta so damn busy? I couldn’t even park at the Ship Stall, had to park about 100 feet from here and walk in this torrential swamp rain.” Shaya said, “You might have heard that the Hutts are moving against the Digans,” and Zorii nodded once, “comms to Kessel and Eadu have been cut off. All the families have been called here, the planet’s shield generators will be turned on tonight,” Shaya said as she pushed a datapad across to Zorii, “Payment, as agreed. A bonus for coming to Nal Hutta’s been added.” Zorii looked at it, 5500 credits. She smiled to herself, removed her glove to approve the transaction, and was alerted to the successful transfer. Just then a commotion broke out in the front of the saloon and Shaya’s guards moved towards it when all of a sudden, BOOOOOOM! An explosion went off, knocking both Shaya and Zorii back through the wall their booth sat against, as it crumbled with it. Shaya managed to get up, Zorii was knocked unconscious. Blaster fire erupted from all directions as Digan forces landed from the sky, dropping into battle. Shaya moved towards Zorii, knowing there was nothing she could do for the guards inside; they were dead. Shaya tried to pick Zorii up, just then Zorii came to. She saw Shaya was carrying her away from the battle. Digan forces were closing in, Shaya shouted, “Where is your ship, Zo’?!?!” Zorii stood on her own facing the blaster fire, Shaya got hit in the leg and a second shot was coming towards Shaya’s chest. Zorii jumped towards her, taking blaster fire in her gut, but saving Shaya’s life. Shaya shot the gunman at the other side, quickly grabbed Zorii, and hobbled with her towards the _Comeuppance_ , that was in sight. She shot 2 more attackers, but not without first taking a shot in her left shoulder. But that wasn’t as bad as her leg or as Zorii’s wound. She dug into Zorii’s pockets to get the keycard for the ship, got Zorii in first as Digan’s goons started to make their way towards them. She got in and fired up the ship… taking off just in time. Shaya headed towards open space, far enough away to be out of sight of any ground forces. She circled back to make her way to her family’s compound a few miles away. They had established this place in exchange for protection and bounty hunting work they provided to the Hutts. Her family also had a medical frigate and Dr. Cathe Mothma under their employ. Shaya thought it was the least she could do for Zorii since she had saved her life. The war had definitely come to Nal Hutta.

## A Way In

Rey got up from the co-pilot’s chair and moved to the main hold, she prepared a blaster and ensured to pack some handheld thermal detonators for Ben. Rey looked to Finn as he walked to the hold to join her, “I don’t like not going with him,” she said. Finn replied, “I know you don’t, but I think you do have to admit that he is not only more knowledgeable of the galactic planets and the cultures that are on them, but also far better trained for this than you are.” Rey couldn’t argue. She was strong with the Force but was left with a lot to learn by the deaths of Luke and Leia. If anything, it had been Ben that had trained her as Kylo Ren in the many duels they had over the past year. Finn questioned Rey, “Do you think we could get to a clean datapad somewhere?” Rey putting the blaster down, “There is no way to pass through to the core planets with him and I onboard this ship without being detected,” Rey answered. “That’s problematic but sooner or later the fact that he is alive and has defected will come to light,” Finn said. Rey turned to face her best friend, “The more time lapses the less probable it becomes that we could clean out their accounts.” Ben of course was able to hear the conversation, he agreed with Rey. Finn moved to sit on the bench around the holochess table, “What do you think is happening to the remnants of the First Order now without the new Big Deal over there,” he said thumbing towards the cockpit.” Rey looked to him, “What happens when you remove the head of a snake?” Finn smiled, “The body thrashes and recoils,” he said. Rey nodded, “Exactly, they’ll be fighting for power, so we need to do this more sooner than later.” Finn paused a bit before continuing, “I am still not sure about how it’s going to be received when we tell everyone that Kylo Ren is no longer, but they are seeing him with their own eyes,” Finn said looking at her. Rey sat across from him, “They’d want to imprison him,” she said. Finn sighed deeply because he in this short time had definitely seen what Rey sees, the man was different, and he loved Rey. But in many ways, he knows that Kylo Ren is still there, just under the surface. The one thing he was sure of was that Ben Solo and Rey were a package deal. His friend needed him to stand up for Ben, and he had faith in her ability to help change someone. After all, she had changed him. As he looked into her eyes, he couldn’t deny her. “I will do whatever I can to help that situation if it comes to that, Rey. I promise you,” he reached his hand out and covered her hand giving it an encouraging squeeze. Rey was glad to have a friend like Finn on her side. “Let’s hope this works and we get Zorii back. I bet she might know where we could get our hands on a clean datapad,” she said. Finn smiled; he knew Zorii to have a million connections in the galaxy. The two of them would go on to prep. BB-8 plugged himself into the droid port ensured he was fully charged. 

The time flew by and Ben made it to Nar Shaddaa in less than they had originally thought. Nar Shaddaa was the moon that orbited around Nal Hutta, which was mostly covered by swamps and bogs. Hutta was the planet that most of the Hutts would reside in, whereas Shaddaa was an ecumenopolis, seen as the nefarious echo of Coruscant. Ben knew the place he’d want to start searching in, the Corellian Sector and more specifically the Orange Lady cantina. He knew he could easily get information from Hopper, the owner there, as he had previous encounters with the man as Kylo Ren, on orders from Snoke. The information he needs now is where Zorii or the Ponta sisters might be if they didn’t find her there. Rey moved towards him with Finn following. Ben inputted memorized navigation locations into the _Falcon_ and engaged its autopilot. Finn plopped down into the co-pilot’s chair, Ben swiveled the captain’s chair and stood up. Rey put both of her hands on his chest, “be careful,” she said tenderly. He smiled wrapping his arms around her waist, “I will,” he said to her, popping a quick kiss on her lips. They moved in unison so that Rey could sit into the captain’s chair easily; Finn tried not to look concentrating on the control panels in front of him. To Finn, it was still weird to see his best friend show any public display of affection with the former Supreme Leader of the First Order. Rey sat in the captain’s chair as Ben cupped her chin in his right hand, “There is a bar called the Orange Lady, it has a landing platform in Level 88 of the Corellian Sector. I’ll need you to get me within range of that platform and I’ll Force Jump to it, then pass me BB-8,” he instructed her. BB-8 beeped behind the couple, acknowledging the plan. Ben looked to the tiny droid, “And stay low, there very well could be hijackers around looking for spare droid parts.” BB-8 beeped as if to say, “Will do!” and he moved back towards the hold. Ben separated from Rey, it pained him in such a different way now to do so. “Come back to me,” Rey said as she sat down in the Captain’s chair and disengaged autopilot. Ben moved to the hold where all the preparations had been laid out for him. He attached a blaster holster onto his belt, which was still his First Order issued belt. He sheathed the blaster into that holster and clipped three thermal detonators to the back of his belt. He put on the leather jacket and the brown cloak over the jacket clipping it on, drawing the hood up. He clipped a commlink to the other side of his belt above his blaster holster. Checked to see that his grandfather’s saber was clipped into the spot that once held his Sith crossguard saber; another reminder of the journey he’d taken. BB-8 beeped at him reassuring him. Ben had to remind himself that he _was_ going to be using the darkness inside him, but that he was making a choice of his own volition that wasn’t clouded by the desires of a master puppeteer, which Snoke and Palpatine had been. He smiled at the droid and bent down to his level, “Are you ready?” He asked BB-8 and the little droid rolled around and gave him three happy beeps. He was ready.

Ben moved back towards the cockpit, “There… let’s not go directly to the platform. Move around the building,” he pointed to the Orange Lady’s platform and then instructed Rey. Rey was focused, quiet. Her emotions were heightened. Ben put a hand on her right shoulder as Finn turned to face Ben. “Commlink connected and checked just in case you need it but try not to use it as it would be too obvious. But if you have to communicate, talk to Rey, which I must say is pretty convenient,” Finn said. Ben looked to Finn, “See that building. On the other side there is parking for this whole sector, start searching for the _Comeuppance_ there.” Finn nodded. It was natural for Ben to command these sorts of things, and surely there would be time for him to adjust to the idea of a group effort. This wasn’t the time to argue that point, Finn knew. “Got it,” he said. Rey maneuvered the _Falcon_ to the exact point he knew it would be comfortable for him to Force Jump and nodded to Finn who took the steering over keeping it steady. Rey jumped out of her seat to face Ben; BB-8 rolled up behind Ben. Ben slowed his breathing, as Rey watched. Finn couldn’t help himself, he looked back to see Ben Solo focusing on the edge of a walkway that was a bit away from the cantina’s platform. Ben flicked his eyes to Rey and poof, just like that he was gone from the spot. Rey turned instantly to lock eyes with Ben now at the edge of that walkway, pulling his cloak tighter to him. Ben turned to face Rey, flicking his eyes to Finn for a quick moment before returning to Rey. Rey bent to pick up BB-8 and in standing locked eyes with Ben. Now she was slowing her breathing and just as fast as Ben had flicked over, BB-8 disappeared from Rey’s arms. He was now in Ben’s arms, beeping happily at the marvel that was this Force Dyad. Finn’s mouth dropped, looking from Rey to Ben, back to Rey again, rinse and repeat. He had never seen that before… never. “Holy drukk!” Finn whispered. 

## Information is Key

Ben put BB-8 down and he made his way to the cantina. Rey plopped down in the captain’s chair and engaged the _Falcon_ to leave towards the parking area where Ben had instructed her to start her search for the _Comeuppance_ , Zorii’s ship. Finn slowly moved to the gunner seat, which also gave him a good view of everything below him. BB-8 rolled up a few steps in front of Ben; this wasn’t his first mission, so he knew the role he needed to play --- search and recover. Ben stayed out of sight behind a pillar as BB-8 made his way to the entrance of the cantina. As BB-8 made it in, he rolled around the entire place in less than a minute, he sent a few beeps over to the _Falcon_ \--- no Zorii. Rey acknowledged BB-8 over comms. Using their Force Bond, Rey sent the intel over to Ben, **_“Zorii isn’t in there.”_** Ben replied, **_“Okay I am going in then, let me talk to the owner. I could get information out of him.”_** Rey sent over, **_“Ben, don’t risk it. What’s to say he won’t tell the First Order?”_** Ben replied, **_“Trust me, he won’t. He was always terrified of me.”_** Rey asked, **_“Well, who wasn’t?”_** Ben shrugged, **_“You.”_** Rey said, **_“Just please be careful!”_** This did not help Rey’s nerves, but she knew that Kylo Ren wasn’t one to be trifled with. 

He engaged his Force powers as he entered the place, using it to sense echoes. He felt her; Zorii had been here. **_“I sense her; she was here. But isn’t anymore.,_** Ben sent over to Rey on the _Falcon_ through their bond. **_“Should I continue to look for her ship?”_** Rey sent back. **_“Yes, just in case she parked it here and was taken elsewhere. We could sense echoes on the ship,”_** Ben replied to her. Rey nodded. Finn was still processing what he had just seen. “Rey, I got so many questions. For one, what was that?” He asked; couldn’t help himself. “Finn... Ben and I are connected in a way that no one else could be. We learn from each other and whatever he discovers, I discover and vice versa. We defy time and space in some way, and we don’t know much else about it. Only that it is called a Dyad in the Force,” Rey told him. Finn would sit there for a moment before snapping back to the task at hand.

The Orange Lady cantina looked quite different than when he had last seen it, for one it was completely packed. Before, as Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, he would have easily cleared the entire place out so he could talk to Hopper on his own. Being a hotspot for smugglers, thieves, bounty hunters, and all sorts of criminals, it was dimly lit which helped his cause. He knew Hopper would be in the back room. He instructed Rey, **_“Have BB-8 scan the back room.”_** Rey sent the message over to the droid sidekick, who quickly obliged and moved towards the room. Ben knew he needed him alone to try to keep some resemblance of anonymity. **_“It may be a bit before I can access the contact I know here, don’t think BB-8 could find a way in,”_** Ben sent to Rey. BB-8 started to scan the room, looking for weapons, identifiers, and any else he could scout. Rey remembered something that Leia taught her and smiled and sent it to him, **_“Never underestimate a droid.”_** Ben chuckled. BB-8 found tattoos that most gang members have and some of them have chip implants. He sent the info to Rey; it was Bala-Tik the negotiator with 5 other members of the Guavian Death Gang. Rey became agitated, Finn noticed. Rey remembered them from the _Eravana_ ; Han Solo’s heavy freighter used to haul rathtars. **_“It’s Bala-Tik of the Guavian Death Gang. You cannot let them see you.”_** She sent over to Ben. Ben replied, **_“Got it.”_** BB-8 moved to scan the main bar room and found 4 others there. He got to work on identifying the weapons they carried and if there were any other gang members around. He sent the information over to the _Falcon_ , Finn and Rey acknowledged. **_“BB-8 says 4 watching the main room, 6 in the back. 8 blaster pistols, a couple of blaster rifles, and an ion blaster, probably on Bala-Tik,”_** Rey sent over. The four in the bar were of lesser rank than the ones in the back room. Rey said to Finn through comms, “I see no trace of her ship here, you?” Finn responded, “Nothing.” “Bala-Tik and the Guavian Death Gang from back on the _Eravana_ are in there,” she said to Finn. He immediately recognized the names thrown his way; he joined her agitation. **_“See the turquoise building past the parking section, with a peak and neon signs all over?”_** Ben asked Rey through their bond. **_“Got it,"_** Rey sent back. **_“Drive around the back, there is a large field that is the top of the roof of another building, check there. It’s a bit more obscured, smugglers prefer it oftentimes,”_** Ben sent back. Rey climbed up with the _Falcon_ and headed to the building where Ben instructed her to check, she flew behind it and saw the field. **_“I see it,”_** Rey told him.

BB-8 kept his circuits open and started recording the chatter of the four that were in at the bar. He heard two of the men talking about the Hutts declaring war on the Digans and that it would prove fruitless for all smugglers and runners. They were looking to score as much spice as they could as getting it during a war on Kessel would make it much more valuable but far less attainable. He picked up on something that one of them said which was they heard the Pontas had gotten a large score of spice and were holding themselves over in their Nal Hutta compound. He sent over the information to the _Falcon_. **_“BB-8 just caught wind that the Pontas have a compound on Nal Hutta,”_** Rey sent to Ben. Finn also said to Rey from the gunner, “No sign of the _Comeuppance_ here either.” Rey nodded to him. **_“Negative on the Comeuppance,”_** Rey sent to Ben. **_“I’ll get the location of that compound from Hopper,”_** Ben said to Rey. **_“Ben don’t risk it. I am not sure I like the idea of this guy knowing you’re alive.”_** Rey sent over to Ben. Ben responded to her, **_“BB-8’s pointing us to the Pontas and if anyone knows their hideout location, it's Hopper.”_** Rey didn’t like it one bit, she looked to Finn who was now rejoining her in the cockpit. “What?” Finn asked. “He’s going to try to get info out of the bar owner,” Rey paused for a bit before continuing, “I don’t want him in there this long especially with that particular gang in there.” Finn understood her concerns and shared them, “I know but how else are we going to find her before we’re stuck in the middle of a massive gang war?” Rey knew that was true.

BB-8 interjected saying the 6 that were in the back room were strolling out, including Bala-Tik. He was the rank of Lieutenant in the gang and had several blaster weapons and two daggers in his long trench coat. **_“Room is clearing out, stay away from Bala-Tik, he’s loaded with weapons,”_** Rey sent to Ben. He had already noticed, the door to the room had closed too quickly for him to be able to eye where to Force Jump to, so he would have to get creative. Two guards covered the double doors to the room. As Ben made his way over, he used the Force to bend them to his will. They all of the sudden needed to head to the refresher, at the same time. Ben entered the room, closing the door behind him. Hopper looked to him now clearly nervous, “Am I seeing a dead man? Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Supreme Leader of the First Order himself.” Ben walked towards him, lifting him up by the neck with a Force Choke. “I need the location of the Ponta hideout in Nal Hutta,” Ben said in a very forceful tone, one that was immediately recognized to be Kylo Ren. Hopper knew he meant business. He clawed at his neck, barely able to get a muffled agreement out. Ben pushed him against the wall and proceeded to enter his mind. He searched, and as he did, he found a weakness in the man. Something he could use. “Ahhh, a daughter. In Coruscant,” Ben said to him as he searched further, finding the location that was told to him by a man named Varn, a force-user. Ben let him go. “And just to be clear, you never saw me,” he said. Hopper rubbed at his neck thinking about his young daughter, one he’s kept in hiding all of her life. His thick Aqualish accent spitting out the words, “Alright… alright.” Ben said to him, “You keep my secret and I’ll keep yours. Understood?” Hopper nodded once in agreement still rubbing at his neck. Ben exited the office and BB-8 rolled up to him, giving him some beeps as if to say, “It’s time to go.” Ben agreed with him as he led the way out. As BB-8 followed him, a bounty hunter noticed the droid, recognized it from Takodana. The First Order might still have a bounty out on it. She paid her tab and followed BB-8, several steps back and as careful as possible to not be noticed. She had no idea that BB-8 was following another target. As she made it outside, she took out a cigarette and lit it outside, keeping an eye on the droid. She noticed the man it was following but couldn’t recognize him. 

**_“Everything okay?”_** Rey sent. **_“Yup,”_** Ben sent back. She could feel the conflict in him again. **_“Come back to drop off point,”_** Ben sent a message to Rey through their Force Bond. To Ben, it had felt like he had to put the mask back on and he didn’t like it, but it was necessary to get the information he needed and to keep him from talking. BB-8 stopped at the same point where they had started their joint effort. Ben came up behind him. Rey dropped in from the top with the _Falcon_ and Finn took over the driving. Rey looked at Ben through the front windows of the helm; he couldn’t hide his emotions right now. **_“Are you okay?”_** Rey asked Ben again. **_“Got a location to search in Nal Hutta,”_** Ben sent back to her, not really answering her. Ben looked at Rey in the _Falcon_ and he slowed his breathing. BB-8 beeped at him, Ben had forgotten about his little sidekick, “Sorry!” Ben said to him and bent down to get him. He resumed his breathing, locking eyes again with Rey. BB-8 suddenly appeared in Rey’s arms. Finn looked, and it still amazed him just as much as the first time. Finn felt a draft, he blinked, and Ben Solo was in the cockpit with them. He had so many questions! But for another time. The bounty hunter had witnessed the Force Jump, and she rushed to throw a tracker onto the _Falcon_. She would succeed and made her way to her ship.

Finn started to pull away and Rey jumped into the captain’s chair. Ben looked at her, “Let me drive.” Rey however, looked up at Ben and said, “No. I got this.” Ben stood there a minute and started to remove his cloak tossing it onto the seat behind Rey. **_“Rey, please I just need to focus on something else right now,”_** Ben pleaded with Rey through their Force Bond. Rey could feel it in his tone with her that he was troubled and just needed a distraction. “On second thought, I’ll let you drive since you do know this area better than I do,” she said out loud looking to Finn, who took to steering, and standing up from the captain’s chair. Ben kissed her cheek lovingly, plopping down into the seat. He grabbed the wheel and ran a hand through his hair. He realized the detonators were still clipped to his belt and went to unclip them, but Rey stepped in to help him remove the belt altogether. He was still visibly shaken about it all. His mind was flushed with varying emotions --- shame, euphoria, disgust, power. Having to threaten someone with the information he had taken from their mind was now something he loathed doing. Even Finn was looking at him now because he felt the turmoil churning underneath. Rey looked to Finn, “Could I co-pilot?” She said putting a hand on his left shoulder. Finn didn’t hesitate, he stood up and moved out of the co-pilot’s chair. BB-8 gave Finn a few beeps, “Yeah buddy, let’s get those recordings scanned into the Resistance memory banks.” The two walked back to the main hold.

Rey sat there for a bit, it’s not like Ben really needed her help piloting the _Falcon_ but she wanted to make sure she was there for him if he needed her. “I am okay,” Ben said. “Doesn’t seem like it,” Rey said to him, turning to face him. Ben didn’t know how to articulate himself, so he said the only thing he could at that moment, “Processing.” Rey was worried, and he knew it. He added, “Don’t worry, I promise I’ll talk about it later okay?” Ben flicked his eyes to her. “Okay,” Rey said looking at him. “I am sorry,” he said. “It’s okay, we’re navigating this together,” Rey said. Ben smiled slightly and winked at her, “Literally,” he said turning forward. Rey gave him a small smile of her own. 

## Ponta Hideout

Rey went to hail Poe on the comms system, “Come in Black Leader, this is Falcon Wing.” He answered immediately, “Rey! Did you find her?” Rey said, “No, but we know where to look next. Nal Hutta, the Ponta twins have a hideout there.” Poe sighed, “Dammit, okay I was hoping that maybe…” Poe trailed off. Rey could feel the frustration in Poe’s voice, “I know, I know. But we _will_ find her!” Rey assured Poe. “I’ll hail you when we cross atmo,” Rey added. “Okay, Black Leader out,” Poe said and closed comms. Ben navigated to the planet of Nal Hutta from the moon that orbited it, inputting the location he had attained from Hopper’s mind into the navigational systems. Rey turned to Ben to ask him, “Should we land and go together?” Ben shook his head no, “I will stay with the _Falcon_ to avoid being recognized; we cannot leave the _Falcon_ unmanned here,” Ben said. “Okay,” Finn came back into the cockpit. He took a seat behind Ben. “The ground there is not really stable, the droid should stay,” Ben said. BB-8 beeped at the group something to the effect of “deserts and swamps aren’t my thing,” Rey chuckled, “He really hates the sand.” Finn smiled, “BB-8, you’re not alone in that sentiment.” Ben was still a flurry of emotions, so he all but ignored the banter. He navigated to a spot he could park somewhat hidden from view. “Okay, we’re here. Rey, here is the plan. These hideouts are heavily guarded. Don’t react when they take aim at you,” Ben said. “Got it!” Finn said. BB-8 beeped at Rey as if to say, “Be careful!” “Thanks, roundie, we will,” Rey said as she bent down to the droid’s level and gave him a rub on the side. Finn got up and moved towards the hold with Rey following him, Ben after her. Ben unclipped Anakin’s lightsaber from his belt and handed it to Finn, “Leave the blasters, take this.” Finn grabbed it and nodded. Rey removed the holster along with the blaster in it and set it on the holochess table. She looked to Finn, “Ready?” Finn cocked a smile, “No! But that’s never stopped us before, right?” Rey smiled and turned to Ben. She threw her arms around him, hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her, “Don’t worry about me, okay. Focus on Zorii.” Ben told her softly, correctly addressing her worry about how he was feeling. He kissed her lips gently. Finn watched them as he let the ramp down. He thought there was something poetic about what they represent; opposite sides of a war that find hope despite their worlds being so drastically different coming together in love. They face so many obstacles and they know it, but it doesn’t dissuade them from being together. Rey turned toward the ramp; she and Finn made their way down to the ground.

The bounty hunter that had placed a tracker on the Falcon had followed them, she hid from sight landing almost a mile away from where Ben was with the Falcon. She stealthed her way to about 50 feet from the ship. She turned on her macrobinoculars to search for heat indexes inside the ship. She only found one, which looked to be male. And the electronic signal identifiers on her goggles also let her see that there is one droid accompanying the male; the droid that she had known to have a bounty from Takodana. As a mercenary and bounty hunter, she would exploit this war as much as she could. She had heard of the First Order’s subsequent defeat on Exegol, which saw the demise of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and Emperor Palpatine for the second time. Or so she thought. She no longer had a direct line to the First Order, but she knew how to get intel to them and that whoever would be in charge now would pay. She’d wait, hiding to see where the others may have gone off to, as surely if they were on the _Millennium Falcon_ , they would be of great interest to the First Order.

## Saving What We Love

Finn and Rey were about 100 feet from the main gates of the compound. Walking over mud and swamp in drizzling rain, caught by the large overhead trees, the stench was palpable. It smelled of swamp and mold, decaying death all around them and Finn was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. Rey sensed his feelings through the Force, “There is more than just death and decay here, there is also life and rebirth… reach out with your feelings, Finn.” Rey instructed Finn. “Feel the Force around you, the balance within it all,” she continued. Finn looked at her, he tried to do what she instructed but it was just too foreign to him. He did sense great conflict in Ben Solo back inside the _Falcon_ , “Ben; something irks him,” he said as he stopped a second to work through the nausea he was feeling. Rey admitted to him, “Yes, I don’t know the details yet, but I do know he is much more conflicted than he has been since Exegol,” she stopped in front of Finn waiting on him to catch up to her. Finn would stop next to her. “Well, he struggles with the Dark and Light, Rey. Maybe he had to do something that was much more in line with Kylo Ren than Ben Solo back at the cantina. I figure that’s probably going to be a lifelong inner battle,” Finn said to her. Finn had wisdom that was not obvious to just anyone, but it was to Rey and to Poe. It is one of his most endearing qualities. She turned her head to face him, smiled, and said, “I know. He’ll need help.” Finn nodded and took a step forward getting the nausea under control. Rey was now following behind Finn. The area had such a green tint to it caused by the mist. The trees were tall, and you could tell they had been around thousands of years because of how thick they were. Considering that Hutts, as a species, lived for hundreds of years, Rey thought to herself that they had probably seen these trees grow.

When they got to the doors, the guards raised their blasters to them, from up above the blaster sniper rifles had their targets. Rey stepped in front of Finn, instinctually, and said, “We’re looking for Lyra and Shaya Ponta.” She and Finn both had their hands raised. One guard asked, “Who’s asking?” Rey sought to answer him, “I am Rey, Jedi Knight. This is Finn, General of the Resistance. We need their help.” Another guard went to whisper in the first guard’s ear, both Finn and Rey felt the guards were curious as to how they knew the Pontas were here. They were not expecting anyone to just waltz into their compound in the middle of a swamp on Nal Hutta; very few people knew about its location. That, with reason, made them nervous. As the men talked to each other, Rey picked up an echo through the Force. Zorii was there, and she was hurt. **_“Zorii is here, she’s hurt.”_** Rey sent to Ben through their Force Bond. **_“I am coming,”_** Ben answered. **_“No, stay with the ship, please. Let me handle it, I met them at the Upturn,”_** Rey said. Ben had to trust her because right now he was unbalanced, and he could easily go Dark on this entire village. **_“That’s exactly what we don’t need, Ben,”_** Rey sent him. He knew that was true. The first guard addressed Rey, “Someone will be out in a few minutes. Wait here.” The guards kept their guns on target, snipers on both Rey and Finn. Finn answered the guard, “Very well, thank you,” he said. Rey and Finn stood still and waited.

About ten minutes had gone by when finally, Lyra Ponta showed up from behind the gate doors. She pressed a button on the visor of her helmet; it separated away revealing her face. Her eyes were a sparkling green, and her face was soft and kind. Rey hadn’t gotten to see her face at the Upturn; hidden behind Mandalorian armor surely collected over time. “Lower your weapons,” she shouted at the guards. She stood in front of Rey, “My sister Shaya and Zorii got into an altercation with some of Digan’s forces back at the Bilbousa Saloon, which started with a bomb leveling the place. My sister managed to get to the _Comeuppance_ with an injured Zorii and make it here. Our medics are working on her injuries,” Lyra said. Rey took a step forward, “I need to see her.” Lyra agreed but put forth a condition, “Just you. The other stays and give him your lightsaber.” Lyra nodded towards Finn. “Where is her ship?” Rey asked. Lyra said, “Behind the compound here.” Finn grabbed at Rey’s elbow, “Rey,” Finn said to her. “It’s alright, Finn.” She unclipped her saber and handed it to him. **_“Rey, don’t go in there unarmed,”_** Ben sent her. **_“Trust me. It’s alright,”_** Rey sent him. Lyra motioned for the gate to reopen. **_“Please, be careful,”_** Ben sent.

Rey walked with Lyra, she asked “Are they going to be alright?” Lyra nodded once and said, “Yes, in time. The Hutt Wars have started with a bang. Zorii saved my sister’s life. I won’t forget that.” Rey asked, “Do you know what happened?” Lyra started to climb down a ladder and motioned for Rey to climb down behind her. Their compound was in the trees of the swamp. Rey took to the ladder, looking around. When they got to the first lower platform, Lyra further explained, “To ensure we’re not followed, we establish a chain of connection points to deliver any large amount of spice. You are asked to meet up with a contact, you’re only given a photograph. No name, no other details. The first instruction is a time and place sent in person, with the photograph sent via comms. We’ve used this tactic for years and most smugglers and runners use it. Zorii was asked to go to the Orange Lady on Nar Shaddaa and given a contact, who told her to come to the Bilbousa Saloon in Nal Hutta. My sister met her there, with 9 guards. Once she delivered the spice, three guards were sent here with it. My sister stayed with 5 other guards, finishing the transaction when the Digans rigged an explosion. It sent blaster fire everywhere, as his ground forces hit the spot, Zorii jumped in front of Shaya and was shot in the stomach by blaster pistol,” Lyra said walking down some final steps to a clearance in the middle of the compound. **_“A stomach wound from a blaster pistol,”_** Rey sent over to Ben. **_“That’s not good,”_** Ben responded. **_“No, it’s not but looks like the Pontas have medics here,”_** Rey sent over to Ben. “The Resistance really put their foot in it, they just created huge power vacuums across the galaxy. Not sure how the Digans will fair in this war,” Lyra said. Walking across the clearing together, Rey saw several transport ships parked inside the walls of the compound. One of them was clearly a medical frigate that had been part of the Battle of Endor, a former Rebel Alliance frigate. Lyra led Rey up the ramp which was in the open position. There were people all around busy doing their jobs, to Rey it felt slightly like a home. No one was being addressed as a doctor or a nurse or patient. Their first names were used. A woman with a scar across her face walked up to Lyra, “Lyra, Shaya is doing well, we will be letting her go to her quarters soon enough. Mostly superficial wounds,” she said. Lyra turned to Rey, “Dr. Cathe Mothma, this is Rey… Rey, meet Cathe.” The woman extended her hand out to Rey, Rey took it and shook it. “Zorii Bliss is her friend,” Lyra told Cathe. Cathe nodded and looked back to Rey, “She’s stable, we managed to get the blaster damage repaired, but we have to keep her sedated for a good 24 hours. She’ll recover but she will need to stay clear of any more jobs for a while until she’s fully recovered, probably 8 weeks or so with traditional medical care,” Cathe said as she turned to walk the two of them to Zorii’s medbay. As they walked Shaya came up to Lyra; she was on crutches. Shaya was out of her Mandalorian uniform; she had long flowing reddish-blond hair and the same sparkling green eyes that Lyra had. It shocked Rey to see how identical the twins were. The sisters hugged, “Shaya!” Lyra exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her. Rey expected the ambiance in this place to be dark and dangerous and it was anything but. “Lyra! Where is Orson?” Shaya asked. “He was here until a few hours ago, I told him to go home and bring Aveline and Connor here,” Lyra answered, and a sigh of relief washed over Shaya. Rey deduced that the people mentioned were Shaya’s family. She looked around to find the one person that was part of her own family. Shaya looked to Rey and Lyra, “She saved my life. As news broke out of the Hutt’s plan, the Bilbousa Saloon became a target and the Digans hit first. This war will hit our front gates before long. I don’t think we should stay here in Nal Hutta, even with the planet’s shield generators, the war will come here,” Shaya said. A tall man with dark hair was walking up to Lyra, shooting a glance in Shaya’s direction, and smiling at her, “Glad to see you feeling better, Shaya,” he said with a smile and looked back to Lyra before continuing, “They have not only blown up the saloon in Bilbousa but the trading district too; we cannot stay here.” Lyra looked to her sister and back to the man, she kissed him quickly on the lips as they closed the distance between them. “Let’s plan our exit out of Nal Hutta as soon as possible,” Lyra said and looked to Shaya and began to speak before slowly turning back to the man, “Varn, ensure that Orson, Aveline, Connor, and our children are the first ones out.” The man, whose name had been identified as Varn to Rey, nodded and kissed Lyra’s cheek. “I will guard them with my life. Where do we go?” he said. Lyra looked to Shaya, who looked between Lyra and Varn, “Anywhere out of Hutt Space, or The Slice for that matter.” Varn looked to Lyra, “We could head to Pasaana temporarily, my aunt and uncle have a homestead there.” Lyra looked to Shaya, who replied, “Temporarily, yes. We can’t really stay there. They are connected to our family and that would put them in danger.” Varn nodded, “Indeed but at least we can head there temporarily,” he said. Lyra replied, “Make the call.” Varn nodded, looking to Rey briefly. Rey got a feeling about him; she couldn’t quite place it. A familiarity of sorts.

Cathe looked to a few nurses to help Shaya return to her medbay, Lyra and Shaya held hands a while. Then Lyra turned to Rey, “You have to take Zorii and get out of here, as soon as possible.” Rey nodded and asked, “Where are you all going to go?” Lyra honestly didn’t know but she answered, “Anywhere but here.” Rey felt the weight of responsibility suddenly become heavier on her shoulders. What had she done? Luke was right, this didn’t go as she had thought. **_“We will build it back, together.”_** Ben reached out to his beloved to reassure her. He too felt the heaviness of it all and that’s what he was also struggling with. As Lyra and Rey turned the corner, she saw Zorii and rushed to her bedside, “Zorii!” Zorii was still unconscious; her armor had been removed and folded next to her along with her weapons and helmet. Cathe was checking on her when she asked Rey, “Do you have a transport with a medbay?” Rey’s eyes filled with tears as she rubbed Zorii’s hand, but she answered the doctor, “Yes,” Cathe looked to Lyra, “Let’s move her then.” Lyra nodded and turned to address the others around the room. Lyra turned back to Rey, “Her ship, can you fly it?” Rey nodded. “Good, here is her stuff and the keycard to the _Comeuppance_. Where is the ship with the medbay?” Lyra asked Rey. “The _Falcon_ is nearby,” Rey responded to her. Lyra’s mouth dropped, “You’re flying the _Millennium Falcon_? There are several APBs on that ship!” Rey sighed, “We know but it’s the only ship I got right now that has a medbay. We also have the Resistance waiting for us at Daalang to escort us if we attract any heat on us,” she said. Lyra asked, “Poe Dameron?” Rey answered her with a bit of a surprise, “Yes.” Lyra smiled, “That man loves her. I’ve told Zorii for years she didn’t have to give up her business to have a family,” Lyra looked towards Varn who was on comms talking to what Rey assumed was his aunt and uncle. Lyra continued looking back to Rey, “You just have to be successful enough to hire good people.” Varn came back at that moment, “They’ll let us stay as long as we need to, but I don’t think we should overextend our welcome. What do you think? 7 days tops?” He asked his wife. Lyra nodded, “At most! I’d like to make it 3 if possible.” Lyra looked to Rey as a few nurses and Cathe were ready to move Zorii, she said, “Be careful. This is going to be a major war, the Digans will throw everything at the Hutts to keep control of the Kessel system.” Rey looked to the medical assistants and Dr. Mothma, “We’ll take her and meet my friend Finn at your doors, he’ll take you to the _Falcon_.” She reached out through their Force Bond, **_“I’ll need you to pilot the Falcon, I’ll drive Zorii’s ship. If it is carrying a medicated and sedated Zorii, you’re the safest pilot she can be with.”_** She sent her thoughts over to Ben. Ben nodded and replied, **_“Okay, but you have to stay close to me until we rendezvous with the Resistance waiting for us.”_** Rey watched as the people scurried to carefully move Zorii onto a hover stretcher. Rey followed her as they transferred her out to the front doors. **_“We’ll have to take her to Crait, to Dr. Kalonia,”_** she sent to Ben. **_“I know. I’ll stay in the Falcon,”_** Ben sent back to her, he recognized the name and knew it was his family’s doctor. Finn caught sight of the medical stretcher coming at them followed by Rey and what seemed like medical personnel. “Zorii!” Finn said as he rushed to her side. Rey turned to Lyra her mind racing, “Lyra, take your people to the planet of Crait, we can use the help and we will restore some sense of order. This is on us, these wars, the civil unrest. We have to fix it. And we need help, Lyra. Jyn Erso fought for this, it’s time to pick up where she left off.” Lyra had not heard her mother’s name on anyone’s lips in a long time. It threw her back, “but we are smugglers and thieves and runners, this has been our life. We’re not without sin,” Lyra said to Rey. Finn chimed in, “I am a former stormtrooper. I defected; we all have sinned. It’s what makes us people. We will welcome you,” Finn said as he handed Rey back Leia’s saber. Rey turned to Lyra and said, “Please consider our offer.”

Lyra had to think about it. “We’ll see.” She turned around and headed back towards the doors of the compound she was masterfully in charge of, but she wasn’t in charge alone either. She wouldn’t do anything without consulting her sister and their husbands Varn and Orson. Rey felt the loyalty in her voice and a hint of something else, more of that familiarity. These people were no different than she was, or her new family was. They were hostile because they had to be. **_“Some sins may be too big to be forgiven,”_** Ben sent to Rey. **_“You have to forgive yourself first,”_** Rey sent to Ben. 

The bounty hunter lurking around carefully cloaked by mist and swamp finally got to see what else was in that ship, she identified Rey, the Jedi Knight, and Finn, the newly appointed general of the Resistance. There would be a pretty big bounty on their head. She put away her macrobinoculars and headed back towards her ship. She knew it would be difficult to keep up with the _Millennium Falcon_ ; it was the fastest ship in the galaxy, and everyone knew that. She’d have to get a head start and she didn’t have long-range trackers to add to the hull of the Falcon. She’d have to rely on the short-range tracker that was already on the ship. She made sure to get to the edge of the atmosphere.

The people helping them, including Cathe, were walking with Rey and Finn towards the _Falcon_. They saw it in the distance, trucking through the swampy grounds. As they approached the ramp opened. Finn being protective in that moment asked that they stay and let him transfer Zorii from there. Ben didn’t think of this for himself, more concerned with getting Zorii safely on board. But he sensed that Finn’s protectiveness was of him, not anyone else. He stopped and let Finn handle the situation, understanding why but Ben could still hear the conversations happening just outside. Rey felt both men through the Force. Finn asked, “If we unhook her from all of this, will she be okay?” Cathe said, “I’ve brought additional supplies, she’s sedated and has no need for life support systems. It should be okay. Keep her medicated and sedated for a good 24 hours, then you can wean her off the sedation and reawake her. Do you have medical assistance where you are taking her?” Finn answered, “Yes we do.” Cathe responded, “Good.” Finn carefully moved to pick Zorii up gently as Rey took the extra supplies and the intravenous medication bags from the stretcher. Rey turned to Cathe, “Thank you, please try to convince Lyra to join us at Crait!” Cathe smiled slightly, “I am no stranger to this war, my grandmother was Mon Mothma, the Republic Senator and former Chancellor,” she said to Rey. Rey immediately thought of the Senate Code that had been discussed between Finn, Ben, and herself. “None of us are,” Rey replied with a slight pause before continuing, “Are your parents or family still alive?” Cathe sighed, “Unfortunately not. They were killed with the Hosnian Cataclysm,” she said. Ben at hearing this felt an ache in his delicate guilt-ridden psyche. Even if he had been against the destruction of these worlds, he had failed to give his displeasure of it a voice to his master for fear of seeming weak and unable to commit to the Dark Side of the Force. He didn’t stop it. He watched it from the _Finalizer_ and donned the mask of his former self to hide the tears he felt that day. Rey said, “The Senate Code makes you the interim Senator than as her only living heir Cathe,” Finn picked Zorii up fully as Cathe’s aides took the stretcher back. Cathe smiled to Rey, “There is no Senate,” she said. “Perhaps, but democracy isn’t dead, we will rebuild it and need help,” Rey said. Cathe just stared at her, the hope of democracy had gone out in her and Rey could tell. Rey nodded once to Cathe and her staff, “Thank you for all your help,” she said as she and Finn moved into the _Falcon_ to settle Zorii in the small bunk in the main hold of the ship.

Rey connected all the medications to the places they belong and strapped them into so they wouldn’t move in transit. Finn found a warm blanket and Ben came from the cockpit to help. He saw the ancient Jedi texts in the drawer that Finn had pulled the blanket out from. Rey shot him a look and smiled. “Luke’s?” Ben asked. “Yes,” Rey answered. Finn looked between them as he placed the blanket on Zorii and strapped her down. Finn looked to Rey, “The _Comeuppance_.” Rey nodded, “I’ll go get it, I have the key,” she said to Finn as she put Zorii’s things away in a drawer along with her pistols and helmet. Rey turned her gaze to Ben, “you pilot the _Falcon_ , and we’ll head back to Crait, she needs Dr. Kalonia.” Finn hesitated, “But he can’t stay there, or be seen there.” Ben looked to Finn, “I’ll stay in the _Falcon_.” Finn sighed. “I wish this wasn’t as hard as it is,” he said. Ben continued, “but it is.” Rey wrapped her arms around Ben and kissed him softly. He addressed her running a finger down her nose, “Stay close to me.” She nodded and smiled, “Always.”

## Dark and Light

Rey exited the _Falcon_ and made her way through the swamp to the area Lyra had told her. Some of the guards at the compound had been instructed to escort Rey over to Zorii’s ship. One of them asked, “You defeated Palpatine, right? It is you they’re talking about across the galaxy.” Rey didn’t turn keeping her head on the task, “It was more than just me. It was a galactic effort of Resistance and citizens alike. Banding together,” she answered. “I knew it! You’re the last Jedi. The Jedi live!” The guard’s excitement couldn’t be contained, Rey felt the authenticity of the man’s voice and something in him spoke to her. She thought that he might be Force-sensitive. Another guard urged him to shush and to focus. Rey looked over her shoulder and smiled, “It’s okay,” she said. The _Comeuppance_ was in sight now. As she got closer she switched the ladder on, and it lowered. She turned around and thanked the guards that had escorted her to it. The one guard that had talked to her looked at her, “No, thank you.” He spoke softly to her. If the weight of it all had not been heavy before, it's exponential now. 

Just then the _Falcon_ flew above them and waited for her, she looked up and saw Ben and Finn at the helm. She climbed up the ladder and inserted the keycard into the slot opening the hatch, she settled into the cockpit and she pushed the ignition button roaring the _Comeuppance_ to life retracting the loading ladder. The ship was old, but it had a lot of character. It was so Zorii. The first thing she did was hail Poe. Poe noticing the ship’s signature immediately knew they had found her. “Black Leader, come in,” Poe said through the commlink. “We are in the air; we got the package,” Rey said to him. “Is she on the _Falcon_? I’ll hail it now; I need to talk to her!” Poe said. “Poe, Poe… listen to me, okay. She got hurt, she’s not conscious but she’s okay. I’ll explain later, but we need to get to Crait. To Dr. Kalonia,” Rey said. Poe felt an ache in the pit of his stomach as his heart sunk into it, “Is she okay?” Rey sighed, “She will be, Poe. We will be at Daalang’s orbit in 50 minutes.” Poe sighed, “Okay, please be careful. There has been reports of bombings in Nar Shaddaa and Nal Hutta; the war has landed in Hutt Space. Black Leader out.” Poe closed comms. His tears fell from his eyes, but he composed himself before hailing the Spice Crew, he told them what has happened and that they were on their way.

The two ships moved in unison into orbit and from the ground Lyra looked on. The young Jedi had given her a lot to think about. Just then Varn put his hands around Lyra’s waist, pulling her back into him. She leaned back to rest on Varn’s chest, resting her head on it. A feeling crossed between them; a secret shared. **_“You didn’t tell her that we used to be Jedi did you?”_** Varn asked through the Force Bond he shared with his wife. They were not a dyad, like Rey and Ben but rather master and padawan. **_“No, I cloaked it. It may not be time yet.”_** Lyra sent Varn. Cathe was back with the stretcher, “We got her on board safely, I think we should get the hell out of here and quick,” Cathe said to both of them. Lyra looked at her, nodded. “Let’s get to work,” she said to Cathe. 

The bounty hunter spotted the ships and started to give chase. There were plenty of other ships with the same thought as the Pontas, to get the hell out of dodge. She knew she could blend into the large exodus to hide her tracking of the ship. She just needed to see where they were headed and start surveillance of the place until she could get to the young Jedi alone.

Finn looked to Ben as both men were leading the way to Daalang. “Are you okay?” He asked. Ben fell silent for a few seconds before answering, “I am not sure.” Ben just didn’t know how to _not_ be honest. The only thing he ever kept from anyone was his feelings for Rey and the existence of their Dyad, but in everything else, he had always told the truth. Finn gave the events of this day some thought, “It’s been a hard day,” he said to Ben who didn’t respond. “I think it would be hard for anyone to balance their Dark and Light sides,” Finn broke the silence. Ben still didn’t respond. “I never feel much of the Dark, but I know both you and Rey do. It’s going to take a lot of training, I believe,” he said. Ben knew that to be true. Finn would continue, “Maybe just talk through what you feel right now.” He encouraged Ben, but he could only sigh. Another silent moment passed between the two of them. Ben would whisper, “Fear.” Finn turned to him, he could feel how hard it was for Ben to decipher his emotions and verbalize it all. That was the real problem; emotions to Ben were weapons not something to communicate about or work through. “Fear that you cannot control the Dark Side in you?” Finn asked Ben and he was spot on, Ben thought. “Yes,” Ben said. Ben didn’t want to admit it, let alone to Finn who was now a General in the Resistance, but yes. All he had wanted to do at the Orange Lady on Nar Shaddaa is go in and slaughter everyone, including Hopper if they didn’t give him what he wanted at that moment. It is what Kylo Ren would have done and had done to so many as he sought to conquer the worlds of the galaxy. He was a monster and that monster had been allowed to come out in Hopper’s back office and now he was having a hard time putting it back in its box. Finn felt the thoughts, they came in pieces though as he wasn’t yet trained in the Force. Finn would start to say, “Ben, we _all_ have scars that we’ve collected along as we live in a galaxy that has long been at war. Here we are, the Resistance has toppled over the Emperor for the second time, and we were all so happy and felt like we gave the galaxy back its freedom. It was an illusion that we enjoyed for the shortest of moments. The truth is that we’ve created an absence of law around the galaxy. But we cannot be so convicted of either side that we lose objectivity and hope. No one is saying that we can only be in the Dark or in the Light, the reality of it is that we are _all_ trying to balance that. And while it may be manifested in different ways based on the people that are experiencing it, at the core we’re _all_ in that same struggle.” Finn concluded. Ben still sat in silence for like ten minutes. Finn unstrapped from the co-pilot’s chair and swiveled the chair, “Going to check on Zorii.” Ben immediately said, “I’ve always…” he trailed off; Finn stopped looking at him. Ben continued but his eyes couldn’t hold back the tears, yet again, “… felt like I am being torn apart.” Finn sighed slightly and put a hand on Ben’s right shoulder giving him a reassuring squeeze. This time Ben didn’t flinch.

Finn moved to the hold to check on Zorii, who was still unconscious. Everything looked good so far on their trip. He thought that Poe must be beside himself at learning that Zorii was hurt. He will want to be here with her. He tucked the blanket in and felt her forehead, normal to the touch. He checked the intravenous fluids and they seemed to be at good levels. He then made his way back to the cockpit. Ben asked him, “She okay?” Finn nodded, “Yeah looking good. Poe is going to want to be here with her for the flight from Daalang to Crait.” Ben sighed a bit, “How is that going to work when he’s on his X-wing?” Finn shook his head no, “I don’t know. I’ve never really flown an X-wing, Rey has. Have you?” Ben looked to him, “I can fly anything.” Finn chuckled, “Figured as much.” Ben made a suggestion, “What if we stop at Tatooine first? Rey could park the _Comeuppance_ , and drive Poe’s X-Wing from there.” Finn liked the idea, “Yeah that makes sense. If we can leave you there, we should.” Ben looked to him, “Are you worried about how the Resistance might feel about me?” Finn couldn’t deny it, “Yes. I mean it’s different than say a stormtrooper defecting.” Ben said, “I can understand that, but have you ever flown this ship?” Finn sighed, “No, transports yes and in very limited capacities.” Ben thought about the current state of the galaxy, “Then it wouldn’t be safe for you to fly with her on board like that. If we needed to engage any enemy ships, how would you be able to do that?” Finn knew that was true. There were few options to leaving Ben behind in the safety of Tatooine. He thought and rubbed his chin a bit. “There is really no other way, I mean Poe could drive but I highly doubt he is in the frame of mind to do so with her like this,” Finn said. Ben agreed, “If that was Rey, I would want to be with her.” Finn nodded and proceeded to hail Poe on the comms system. “Black Leader, come in.” He, of course, answered right away. Poe did away with the formalities and immediately asked, “Finn, how is Zorii?” Finn sighed, “No change. But stable. I think when we rendezvous, we should head to Tatooine quickly. Thinking we could drop off the _Comeuppance_ , have Rey fly your X-Wing while you come on board the _Falcon_. Reason being---” Poe cut him off, “Yup. Make sense. I will let the squads know! Over and out.” Poe closed the comms. Finn turned to Ben, “Oh boy.” Ben looked to Finn, “He’s just really worried about her!” Finn nodded and then proceeded to hail Rey, “Falcon Wing, come in.” Rey answered, “Here.” Finn told her the new plan on dropping off the _Comeuppance_ at Tatooine. “Roger, good call. Over and out,” Rey said as she disconnected. **_“Ben, are you okay with Poe being in the Falcon with you?”_** Rey sent the message over to Ben. **_“Yes, I am fine with it. I think Finn is more worried than I am about it,”_** Ben responded to her. **_“It will be the first time you see each other, after everything,”_** Rey replied denoting a bit of anxiety which Ben picked up on. **_“I know, it’s okay. I promise,”_** Ben said to her. Rey sighed; her eyes locked on the _Falcon_ ahead of her. **_“He may not be… nice,”_** Rey sent over. Ben smiled and replied, **_“I expect him not to be.”_** Finn looked at him curiously. He sensed there was another conversation happening but didn’t want to pry. He would have to learn to share his best friend with Ben Solo. **_“We haven’t talked about what happened in Nar Shaddaa, yet. Adding more stress on top of it with Poe being there, I don’t know how I feel about that,”_** Rey sent over. Ben asked her, **_“Would you like to pilot the Falcon, then? I could pilot the X-wing.”_** Rey thought for a minute and replied, **_“No, given the current galactic state, it's best for you to pilot the delicate cargo and I seriously doubt that Poe Dameron would ever let you fly his ship.”_** That was a definite, Rey thought. No one else ever flew _Black Panther_ , ever or had ever flown _Black One_. For her to even do so would be a stretch. **_“I just know if I was him, and you were back there, I’d want to be at your side,”_** Ben sent over to Rey. Rey smiled. She knew that Poe would want to do the same. **_“Okay let me talk to him about it then,”_** Rey messaged over to Ben. **_“No need, Finn did so already,”_** Ben replied. **_“Okay, then, I just want to be sure you’re comfortable,”_** Rey said. Ben smiled and said, **_“Thank you.”_** Rey replied to him, ** _“ I love you,”_** Ben chuckled a bit before responding to her, **_“Me too.”_**


	8. Chapter 7: Going Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we see Ben Solo struggling with the balance of the Dark and Light in him now, but he is making his own choices and no longer a puppet of anyone else. The galaxy has tumbled into chaos, and the First Order remnants are reorganizing, first target Naboo. The Resistance must answer the call, but Zorii Bliss is hurt. Choices must be made. Leia and Han’s closest friends rally around their son Ben Solo, as Rey and Ben discover their Dyad Force Powers more.

## Daalang Rendezvous

Ben saw Daalang on the horizon, “Finn, there,” he pointed, “I see them.” Finn nodded, “Yup. Let me hail Poe,” he said. “Black Leader, come in.” Poe answered, “Traitor One, you here?” Ben shot Finn a look, was that really his call sign? “We’re at your 9, Falcon Wing is behind us; we’ll follow you out,” Finn said. He looked to Ben, “What?” Ben let out a laugh, “Traitor One?” Finn chuckled, “You gave me the name, actually. Since I don’t fly a lot it’s not often in use,” Finn answered. “So, you’re telling me I gave you your flight call sign?” Ben asked smiling. “Yes! I am telling you; you gave me my flight call sign.” Ben couldn’t help but laugh, “Maybe my new call sign could be, Traitor Two?” Finn laughed at that and asked, “What was it before?” Ben answered, “Kylo Ren.” The two of them burst out laughing. 

Poe couldn’t think straight, he wanted to be on the _Falcon_. He opened a direct line to both Finn and Rey. “Black Leader to Falcon Wing and Traitor One,” Poe hailed them. They both connected to the direct line. “Traitor One here,” Finn said as Rey also said, “Falcon Wing here.” Poe sighed, “We need to land on Daalang, at least for a refuel.” He made up an excuse, but he didn’t need to have one for all of them to understand. Finn responded, “Roger, location?” Ben volunteered a location, “Trax Station? I can send over the coordinates.” Rey chimed in, “Sounds good, over and out.” Poe didn’t say anything else; he closed the connection. He wasn’t sure how to feel right now and he didn’t much care for Kylo Ren dictating to him where to land, but he had to admit he didn’t know this planet. The _Comeuppance_ and _Black Panther_ both got the coordinates from the _Falcon_. Poe instructed Black Squadron and the Spice Crew to the same location.

As soon as the Falcon crossed the atmosphere, the reason why no one really knew much about this planet became clear. Finn saw the wildness in the air all around them… torrential downpours, lightning, heavy winds, and thunderstorms. “Okay, that’s some wicked weather! Is this place like this all the time?” He asked. “Yes, nonstop. They only built a few places in this world. Trax Station was one of those few,” Ben answered him. Finn said, “One has to wonder how they even got that built.” Finn hailed the Trax station identifying himself as part of Black Squadron of the Resistance and they gave him and the other ships behind him clearance to land. The _Falcon_ landed first; Ben being sensible to face the cockpit to a more hidden side while Rey parked the _Comeuppance_ directly in front of the _Falcon_. The others parked behind them with Poe being the first one out of his ship. As the ramp lowered, Finn’s eyes caught Poe’s. He ran up soaking wet and didn’t bother to stop at Finn going straight to Zorii. “Ohhh, Zo… Zo-bear,” he whispered to her sitting beside her, his eyes watering as he took her hand. Behind Poe was Vicii and on his shoulder sat Babu Frik followed by Rey, also soaked from the rain. Rey looked around the hold where everyone was and she found Poe, putting a hand on his shoulder. Poe looked up at her with tears in his eyes. “She is sedated and has to stay that way for a day or so for the incisions to heal,” Rey said to Poe. Poe looked back to Zorii and then stood up to hug his best friend. Rey wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back tightly. “She’ll be alright, I promise.” Finn put a hand on Poe’s shoulder. Vicii asked looking between Finn and Rey, “What happened?” Rey looked to them all and recounted the story of Shaya and Zorii making the exchange at the Bilbousa Saloon in Nal Hutta which had been a target of attacks by the Digans. Zorii had jumped in front of Shaya in the line of fire and got hit in the stomach, tore it open. Shaya had managed to get clear and brought Zorii back on the _Comeuppance_ to their compound on Nal Hutta. The doctors there operated on her to save her, and Shaya had also gotten hit in the leg and grazed in the shoulder. Vicii looked to Poe, “Shaya has two kids,” he said. Poe looked back to Zorii. Zorii for all her faults was a good person, the people all gathered around her knew that. Babu would go on to mention, “Mama Ponta, baby Pontas.” Poe wiped his eyes before speaking, “Scratch Tatooine, we’re going directly to Crait.” Rey asked, “Can you fly?” Poe looked at her, “No.” Rey continued, “Want me to drive the X-wing?” Finn asked Vicii, “Is there anyone that can fly the _Comeuppance_?” Vicii nodded, “I’ll take it,” he extended his hand out to Rey, “Vibbo can pilot the _Hammerhead_.” Rey looked to Poe, “ _Black Panther_?” Poe dug into his pocket and pulled out the keycard to his ship, “Be gentle with her,” he said. “Fuel?” Rey asked. Poe looked at her as if to say, “Not really needed.” Rey smiled taking the keycard for Poe’s X-Wing at the same time handing Vicii the keys to the _Comeuppance_. Vicii and Babu Frik moved towards the ramp departing from the _Falcon_. She moved into the cockpit, locking eyes with Ben who was sitting in the captain’s chair, swiveled to face the exit. He rose to his feet, grabbing his cloak handing it to her, “Take this to cover from the rain.” She shook her head no. “I am already soaked; the weather here is awful!” Ben dropped the cloak back on the seat, “Stay close and let me lead you through anything that may come our way,” he said. “Poe is here,” Finn said coming in the cockpit, followed by Poe. Poe locked eyes with the person he knew to be Kylo Ren. The two men would stare each other down for a few seconds.

Rey looked between the two men, stopping on Poe, “Where do you want us to park the _Falcon_?” Poe couldn’t rip his eyes from Ben, eyeing him up and down and shaking his head in disbelief. “You might have them fooled,” he thumbed to Rey and Finn, “but I am not falling for it,” Poe said to Ben. Ben remained silent. Rey stepped in front of Poe, face to face. “Don’t do that. He was the one to get the location for the Ponta hideout in Nal Hutta; he’s the whole reason we got to her in the first place. And now he’s helping us get Zorii to Crait safely, show some restraint!” Rey wasn’t kidding around. Finn put a hand on Poe’s shoulder, “It’s true.” Poe shrugged off Finn’s hand. Finn flinched a bit at that reaction. Rey shot Finn a look and then landed back on Poe, “Are you going to arrest him?” Ben’s left eye gave a slight twitch. He was already struggling to put Kylo Ren away from what happened on Nar Shaddaa, this wasn’t helping. “I should!” Poe exclaimed, looking from Ben to Rey and back to Ben. “And how many people did you kill to run spice in Kijimi?” Rey said sharply. She would not land the _Falcon_ anywhere near Crait if that’s a course of action that Poe would take. Poe fell silent, still staring at Ben. “So, help me God, I’ll take this ship to Tatooine first, Poe.” Poe’s eyes flicked to Rey. “Fine,” he said increasing his voice to a yell, “I won’t, but until all this kriffin’ drukk is settled out, HE CAN’T COME NEAR THAT PLANET AGAIN!!!!” He pointed a finger at Rey’s face and Ben wanted to snap that finger right off his hand. Finn sensing the tension in Ben’s demeanor rising said softly, “Poe.” Poe turned to Finn, “Park at the west end clearing, it might be full; I don’t know where else I am going to put all these people. People that have no home or find no safety in their worlds BECAUSE OF THAT MAN,” he pointed to Ben now yelling again. Ben started to press his lips tightly together. Rey could feel the hostility in him increasing by the second. “I get it, Poe, I really do,” Finn said, “but if we continue down this path, what the heck are we fighting for then? Certainly not peace. No, we will not be arresting Ben Solo, I guarantee it. Even if I have to put my position on the line.” Poe was looking at Finn and let out an exasperated growl. Rey said, “Go, be with her.” She instructed Poe pointing him in Zorii’s direction. Poe obliged turning slowly eyes locked on Rey. Finn followed his other best friend, leaving Rey with Ben. Rey turned to face Ben, “You’re not okay, I can feel it.” Ben looked to her almost unable to speak. The rage that was in him now would need to be released somehow. “Ben, listen. Please breathe, Ben,” Rey said as she clasped his face between both of her hands. She tried to wrap her arms around him, but he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away. That hurt her feelings. Ben had not been prepared for how he would react to someone yelling at Rey like that in front of him, his emotions for her were churning like a maelstrom. Rey knew it. “I will have plenty of disagreements with Poe Dameron in my lifetime; he’s one of my best friends and he is within his right. What you have done as Kylo will be hard to forgive for many,” she said to Ben. Ben knew that was true. The _Comeuppance_ roared back to full life in front of them with Vicii at the helm. Hearing the sounds of the engines around them, Ben started to breathe slowly, trying to calm down. He managed to say, “Sorry, Rey. I didn’t mean to push you away,” as Finn scurried back to the co-pilot’s chair and plopped in it staring up the _Falcon_. “Let’s get Zorii the medical attention she needs,” Finn said. Rey looked to Finn, “You keep him in check,” she thumbed to the hold where Poe had already taken a seat next to Zorii. Finn said, the annoyance of Poe’s reaction getting to him, “Yeah yeah…” and continued, trailing off to a whisper, “he can check his own damn self.” Rey walked to the hold. “You’re something else, Poe Dameron!” She said as she made for the ramp. Poe waved her off, muttering under his breath.

Ben sat down in the captain’s chair, looking to Finn who was flipping the buttons & switches on the control panel. Finn drove the ship into the air, waiting for Ben to take over when he was feeling more like it. As Finn steered the _Falcon_ around, he caught sight of Rey flying in the _Black Panther_. He turned the comms systems on to broadcast on the Resistance channel, “Traitor One to Black Squadron and Spice Crew, over.” The team acknowledged the channel and Rey was last, “Falcon Wing, ready.” Ben suddenly took hold of the steering wheel, and Finn felt it. “Team, Black Leader is with me and Falcon Wing is on _Black Panther_ , navigational locations coming your way,” Finn said as he inputted the navigational location for the planet of Crait. “Black Squadron and Spice Crew follow Traitor One, over and out,” Finn said as Ben engaged hyperdrive to cross into the Gamor Run hyperspace route; all other ships followed.

## Tracking Jedi

The Bounty Hunter that had placed a short-range tracker on the _Falcon_ had followed them towards Daalang. If they land there, she might be able to get at Rey alone to capture her bounty; Rey was on a separate Y-wing ship that has taken off from Nal Hutta along with the _Falcon_. That would be her first target, the second would be General Finn of the Resistance, with the droid last although she didn’t think the droid would ever be completely alone. As she got close, she saw the _Falcon_ come to an almost complete stop, with the Y-wing stopping along with them. She flew past them and disappeared from their immediate view. As she flew past them she saw why they had stopped; they were meeting up with an entire squadron of Resistance X-Wings and a couple of other ships of varying types and classes. This would make things much harder for her. She had to circle her way around and she didn’t know if the short-range tracker signal would drop. If it did, there was the possibility that the _Falcon_ would not be where it had been to pick up the signal again. She risked it, otherwise, she felt her cover would be blown. The last thing she needed was fighting an entire Resistance squadron plus the _Falcon_ itself.

The signal did drop, but she was able to pick it up again as she got closer. She stayed as far back as she could given the short-range of the tracker. She saw they were headed towards the planet. Could this be another Resistance location? She thought even that would be intel that she could sell to the First Order. She watched as they crossed atmo and saw that they were heading towards Trax Station. She couldn’t remember when the last time she stopped there had been as Daalang wasn’t a popular spot. But perhaps that alone provided some opportunity for the Resistance to set up an outpost, at least. She followed the _Falcon_ and the other ships to the station, keeping a safe distance.

She saw they all landed, and she moved across to the other side, where there was another dock. She landed her ship and got out her macrobinoculars again, grabbing a black cloak to aid in hiding her and keeping her somewhat dry. The rain was pelting down to the pavement of the station and thunder and lightning were coming from the seas alongside the station as well as the skies. She wanted to see who else was part of the X-wing squadron that now hitched themselves to the _Falcon_. She got within 30 feet of where the ships had congregated and she saw that the Jedi Rey had been flying the Y-wing, she rushed out to board the Falcon who had an X-wing pilot waiting on the ramp door to drop. She recognized that to be General Poe Dameron of the Resistance; surely another high-prize target. Poe had been the only X-wing pilot to get out of his ship and it was clear that this was not an outpost location. Another human male in a long trench coat had rushed to where the Falcon was, carrying an Anzellan. She couldn’t tell if it was male or female as they are very small in size. The male did not seem to be part of the squadron as he was not wearing the typical Resistance pilot attire. As soon as the ramp was open on the Falcon, Poe Dameron rushed in followed by the male with the Anzellan, lastly by the Jedi. With as many people as she had seen it would be impossible to attack any one of them to claim her reward. She went back to her ship; she acquired a long-range transmission beacon. To install it, she would have to come face to face with the hull of the ship, as it needs a power source. The odds that she would have the time to do that was slim to none. But she knew that if they departed and took to hyperspace, short-range would drop and her tag would be lost. So, she thought she would try to access the Y-wing which was parked in front of the _Falcon_ and easier to access than all the other ships.

She stealthed back around and carefully made her way to the hull of the Y-wing. She unscrewed one of the power plates for the ship, trying to quickly attach the long-range transmission beacon. She did so and replaced the plating right as the human male and the Anzellan came out of the Falcon, heading towards one of the other ships, thankfully. She hurried up her pace to get the distance she needed so that the Jedi wouldn’t pick up on her trace. She watched the exit with her macrobinoculars. That same human male was returning now towards the _Falcon_ , or she thought. She saw the man, now without the Anzellan on his shoulder, make it towards the Y-wing. She cursed under her breath; he was going to fly the ship she had tagged thinking the Jedi would return to it. She saw that the Jedi exited the _Falcon,_ and the ramp was drawn to a close. But the Jedi was now making it towards what she deduced was Poe Dameron’s X-wing. They had switched ships on her. This was bad! She was banking on the Y-wing leading her to a spot where she could take out the Jedi, quick credits she had thought. But as always there was a setback. She could try to follow the X-wing, but her ship wouldn’t be able to keep up, and those ships had hyperdrive thrusters, hers did not. Or she could follow the Y-wing in the hopes that they were ending up going to the same location. She opted to follow the Falcon for as long as she could, then she could later track the Y-wing back from her hideout. Why can’t her bounties ever just go the way she wanted them to? She thought. Just then she saw the ships start to take off. She ran back to her own ship and she followed the _Falcon_ , but unfortunately, all the ships crossed in the Gamor Run. She knew she couldn’t follow, but she knew at some point that Y-wing may lead her closer to her targets.

## Planet Killers

Finn swiveled his chair to look at Ben and said, “Don’t mind him, he’s being an asshole.” Poe from the hold shouted, “I heard that.” Finn turned towards the exit of the cockpit and shouted back, “GOOD!” He looked back to Ben, “I don’t ever remember anyone doing a full lightspeed jump from one route to another, except maybe Mr. Grumpy back there. So, we’re going to have to drop out of lightspeed for them to stay with us.” Ben stayed looking ahead but nodded once in acknowledgment. He was still trying to stuff the dark side back in a box, and it wasn’t working. Ben responded, “I’ll drop out of Enarc Run to retake the Triellus Trade Run,” he said flicking his eyes to Finn and then back to the front. “You look like you want to hit something,” Finn said. “That’s because I do,” Ben said. Finn went to stand up, “Practice. Lots of practice! You’ll get a lot of it from Poe Dameron.” Ben wasn’t amused at this point, he tried to focus on flying through the Gamor Run.

As Finn came up on Poe, whose eyes were tear-filled, Poe shot him a look. “Hey, we’re on the same side here,” Finn said to him, “and he,” Finn pointed to the cockpit, “is Rey’s choice. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to respect that as her friend. Even Zorii managed to see the good in him, I mean she didn’t kill him! Although that would be one hell of a fight,” Finn took a seat at Zorii’s feet. He checked on the fluids and the systems she was attached to. Poe said softly not lifting his eyes from Zorii, “She’d go out swinging.” Finn chuckled, “You damn right she will.” Finn put a hand on Zorii’s leg gently. “She is great, Poe honestly. I mean what she did back there is selfless,” Finn continued. “It’s who she really is,” Poe said, “she doesn’t show people that side of her.” Finn looked at his friend, “She shows it to very few, and Ben was one of those people.” Poe turned his head to him, “I don’t trust him. I just don’t.” Finn said, “And that’s expected, I mean I can’t even say I trust him, but what I can say is that Rey does.” Poe said, “And we’re supposed to just take her word for it? I don’t think she’s thinking rationally. If they stay together, she will have a target on her back for the rest of her life.” Finn hit Poe with the same question he had hit Ben with, “What would Leia do?” Poe snapped his head back to Zorii letting out a deep sigh. “Yeah, exactly. Leia would never abandon him when he needed her the most; she would and did … for that matter… die for him. She loved him, clearly. Han first, then Ben. We have to let him prove himself and honor the sacrifice she made to bring him back to the Light. I get we have to talk to the rest of the members back on Crait, but we should do that. We need to make an effort for Rey, she’s done so much for all of us. And they can choose to believe it or not, but so did Ben. He saved her life.” Poe looked back to Finn with confusion on his face, “What do you mean Leia sacrificed herself? And what do you mean he saved Rey?” Finn decided to tell Poe everything that Rey had told him because Poe hadn’t stuck around to hear the story the first time. He told Poe about how this all happened, how he had felt Rey die through the Force, how Ben resurrected her and sacrificed himself to save her, and how all the Jedi had come to help Rey pull Ben back from the netherworld of the Force, how Anakin and Luke had fought the last surviving members of the Sith Eternal to protect them both. He told him how the fight at Kef Bir had really gone down, how they --- Ben and Rey --- had killed Snoke together. Poe would often stroke Zorii’s hand and look between her and Finn as the story was being recounted. Poe asked, “If they did that and he asked for her hand at his side, why did he then take Snoke’s place? His reign was bloodier than Snoke’s ever was! Almost the entire galaxy had been conquered by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. How am I to get past that? How is anyone?” Finn told him how Ben was still conflicted then, and that Rey’s rejection had sent him into a spiral. That it was Leia using the last of her life energy to reach him that gave him hope that he could redeem himself. He also reminded him that because Rey healed Ben in Kef Bir, her selfless act, that even at his darkest, she loved him. That was real forgiveness. That Kylo Ren was a monster because he had been twisted and manipulated by Snoke and Palpatine, he was a child of war, he was also the man worthy of the love of someone like Rey. Finn then put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “This is what we’re fighting for, Poe. A chance to be better, a chance to right the wrongs, a chance to be allowed to change. Is it not?” Poe thought about that. His eyes started to tear up again, he brought Zorii’s hand up to his cheek. He thought to all the things he had done, that she had done, and how much they had wanted a different life back on the colonies one day. Ben had put the ship on autopilot and had managed to come through the exit almost to the hold. He stood on the edge and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms, eyes shot to Finn, and back to Poe and Zorii. Poe started to stroke Zorii’s hair, “Zo, I couldn’t live this life without you. You are the reason I fight the way I do.” Poe leaned in to kiss her cheek. He caught sight of Ben; his eyes had softened. He could tell that Ben thought of Rey the same way he thought of Zorii. A common ground. He too loved Rey, like a sister more so but it was love nonetheless. He couldn’t let Ben get in between him and Rey. And if he fought her on this, she’d distance herself from all of them. Zorii moved her lips a bit, Poe returned to watch her. Finn leaned over because she was supposed to be sedated. She didn’t say anything, but it prompted Finn to check on her medications to see if they were running out. Ben said to Finn, “Movement is natural. It’s not a heavy sedative.” Poe turned to him and Finn asked, “How do you know that?” Ben pointed to the intravenous bag that had a prescription on it, “Because I know the name of the prescription.” Poe asked with disdain, “So, now you’re a doctor?” Ben calmly said, “I’ve been part of this war for fifteen years; I’ve had to play many roles.” Poe was a bit taken back by that statement. “On the wrong side?” He asked simply. “Yes, on the wrong side.” Ben admitted to Poe. Poe had been waiting for him to be a smartass so when he agreed with him, he didn’t expect it. He turned his head to face Zorii and stroked her hair again. Finn looked to Ben and smiled. Ben straightened from his lean and walked back to the helm, he would ready the ship to drop out of Gamor Run near the planet of Kerkoidia. Finn followed Ben. 

The two of them dropped into their respective chairs, Finn hailed the Resistance that followed them, “Black Squadron and Spice Crew, this is Traitor One, we’re dropping out of Gamor at Kerkoidia, acknowledge.” Each one of the other ships acknowledged they were in tow, starting with Falcon Wing. When Ben disengaged the hyperdrive thrusters, each of them showed up at the exit point. Immediately they were hailed by the Resistance base at Crait, “Traitor One, this is Red Leader. Where is Black Leader?” Finn replied, “Hold, getting him now,” he shouted out for Poe who rushed into the cockpit, “Black Leader here, report Red Leader.” Bastian Rixx was the leader of the Red Squadron that is patrolling around Crait, “Poe, Naboo is under attack. The destroyer that hit Kijimi is headed that way with 4 or 5 squadrons of TIEs. The Citizens are mounting up a force to take that planet killer down, and hopefully, it’s one less of those they can count on. We don’t really know,” Bastian said. Poe looked to Ben, who didn’t look up at him. “Falcon Wing is steering my ship; Finn and I have special cargo that needs to land in Crait,” Poe said. Finn asked, “Where are Captains Iolo Arana and Karé Kun?” Bastian replied, “Readying their squadrons.” Poe said, “We’ve just dropped out of the Gamor Run, we will send Black Squadron and Spice Crew to rendezvous at Kalinda. Bastian, keep Red Squadron on guard at Crait. Send only starfighters to the rendezvous point, hold back any freighters, acknowledge.” Bastian came through on comms, “Roger, Red Leader over and out.” He looked to Ben, “How many more of those destroyers are there?” Ben said plainly, “I know of at least 6 that were not at Exegol.” Poe sighed hard, “KRIFF!” Finn said, “Traitor One to Black Squadron and Spice Crew, broadcast. Naboo is under attack by remnants of the First Order, including the Star Destroyer that took out Kijimi. I need you two squads to head to Kalinda and rendezvous with Dagger and Stiletto Squadrons and the Citizen’s Fleet. We need to get our patient back to Crait. Falcon Wing, please follow us. Poe will need that ship! Please acknowledge.” All of the ships in tow of the _Falcon_ sent back acknowledgments, except for Rey. “Rey, please don’t engage in this,” Finn pleaded. “Finn, they need our help!” Rey said. Ben turned to Finn, “No! She comes with us.” Rey heard him, “Excuse you, this ship is one of the best in our squads. We need it there!” Finn, Poe, and Ben all yelled at the comms station, “NO!” Poe added, “That’s an order!” Rey wrinkled her nose in pure annoyance, “It’s a good thing you can’t order me around Poe Dameron.” Poe raised his voice, “Rey… I mean it, do not take my ship into battle. I need you to stay and reload supplies onto the _Falcon_ so that you can take off ASAP with Ren here and get back to Tatooine. I am NOT kidding with you!” Poe looked to Finn and said, “I swear by the Force!” Rey said, “You know, you are a difficult man, Poe Dameron. Really, really difficult!” Finn said, “Rey, I beg of you.” Ben was clearly starting to get agitated, “Is she always this stubborn?” Both Finn and Poe answered simultaneously, “Yes!” Finn added, “Better get used to it.” He smiled at Ben. Ben used his Force Bond, **_“Who would keep me from killing Poe if you are not there?”_** Rey received it, **_“You will do no such thing, Ben Solo.”_** Ben sent over, **_“Then please stay with me.”_** Rey sighed, ** _“Fine… because you asked nicely.”_** Rey spoke over comms, “Okay fine… but only because I think Poe will try to throw my boyfriend in prison.” She closed comms. “Boyfriend?” Poe immediately asked Finn, who pointed to Ben. “Arrrgh!” Poe said, “That woman is something else, she never listens to anyone, she flies by the seat of her pants, and now she’s shacking up with the Supreme Leader of the First Order. I’m so done!” Poe turned around and went to sit with Zorii. Finn turned to Ben, who had a slight grin on his face when he met Finn’s gaze. Finn sighed deeply. “Oh, the two of you are going to eventually laugh about all of this someday,” Finn said as he motioned to Ben and back towards Poe.

## Incoming

As the two crafts headed towards the Enarc Run, they knew they’d have to drop from hyperspace before reaching Naboo, separating from the squadrons as they continued towards the planet in trouble. Poe had checked on Zorii, who was still out. He came back into the cockpit sitting behind Ben, so he can look at Finn. “We’ll have to drop out of hyperspace before reaching Naboo,” Poe said. Finn looked to Ben and then back to Poe, “We know Poe.” Poe had an indignant look on his face. He wasn’t happy that he wasn’t with his squadron right now, leading his squadron to help save Naboo. But he was even less enthused to have Kylo Ren flying the _Falcon_ given that he killed Han Solo. And far angrier that Zorii had run away to do a job all because he declared his love for her. He started to wonder if he should have just kept his big mouth shut. He started to nervously stomp his right foot. 

Rey sent a message through their Force Bond, **_“Is Poe behaving?”_** Ben said out loud, “Yes.” Poe asked, “Yes what?” Finn answered him, “Force Bond, they can communicate without a comms system.” Poe scoffed, “Yeah okay,” in a sarcastic tone, “What?” Poe made a face. Finn turned to him and said, “They are a dyad in the Force, some super-duper rare Force thing that makes them be able to resurrect each other and expand their powers or something.” Poe laughed, “You have lost your mind Finn, what???” Finn sighed and shook his head, “Trust me they can talk to each other. Just take my word for it.” Poe flinched with a look of confusion, “Like always? Like always on?” Finn nodded in agreement. “Oh, that’s got to be super weird. Is that true for all Force users? Or just them?” Finn responded, “Just them.” Poe went on to say, “I couldn’t imagine being in Zorii’s head 24/7,” Poe said. Finn laughed and said, “I am sure she couldn’t imagine that either.” Poe gave him a fake exaggerated smile, “Har har har, you’re funny. Real cute!” Finn hailed Rey on _Black Panther_ ; she answered. “We’re dropping out of hyperspace here; we’ll have to make it to the Triellus Trade Run by hand,” Finn said to Rey. “Roger, heighten up,” Rey cautioned. “Roger,” Finn sent back, “leaving comms open.” Rey nodded to herself, “Okay.” They dropped out of the Enarc Run and had Naboo in their sights. Ben exclaimed, “TIEs incoming at 3 o’clock.” “I see them,” Rey said. Poe inched up, looked to Finn, “Finn, man the gunner… let me take that.” Finn looked back to Poe and then to Ben. Ben flicked his eyes to Finn then back to the front, “Evasive maneuvers, Rey. Stick to my tail!” Proton fire was sweeping their right and left flanks, Finn jumped out of the co-pilot’s chair, he shouted out to Rey, “Moving to the gunner.” The four TIE fighters were right on Rey’s rear, she dodged and rolled to avoid them. Poe dropped into co-pilot mode, “Engaging shields! We got to lose these fighters, Finn!” Ben waited until Finn was in the gunner position, “Rey! I am going to pull up and over you, so we can engage them from behind,” Ben said. “Roger, she replied.” Poe looked to him, “What? How the hell are you going to do that with a freighter? And that makes Rey the target,” Poe countered. “I am well aware, she’s an exceptional pilot,” Ben said matter-of-factly shouting to Finn, “Finn, ready?” Finn answered, “Yeah, wait.. wait… for what?” Just at that moment, Ben flipped the _Falcon_ upwards and cut the engine to free fall, rolling behind the TIEs, and quickly restarting the engine setting the _Falcon_ right side up, giving Finn a perfect shot at the TIEs. Finn felt sick to his stomach, but he took the shot… BOOM! One TIE down, “Woohoo! Yeah!!!” Finn shouted giving a fist pump in the gunner seat. “Nice shot,” Rey said… she was now dodging and bobbing around. They had three to go. Poe sat in pure astonishment; he had never seen the Koiogran turn done with a freighter. He was impressed but didn’t want to show it. “Rey break left and head for the TTR!” Poe shouted through the comms. “Roger,” Rey replied as she darted and zipped through space. Ben yelled, “Hold on to something!” He took the Corellian YT freighter and side saddled down to give Finn an exact target, BOOM! Second TIE down. “YEAHHH!” Finn screamed. Ben dropped the _Falcon_ back into chasing position, Rey flying in full twists and remaining the target for the two TIEs left. Ben took to the proton canons, “Engage front shields when I come off lightspeed, Finn turn to face forward” he instructed them. “What??? Lightspeed???” Poe didn’t have time to think, neither did Finn. Ben hit lightspeed for a brief second, landing well in front of Rey. He did a reverse throttle maneuver that set the _Falcon_ facing the incoming TIEs and Rey. Rey was flying directly at them, but she pulled up to move over them. Poe engaged the front shields, “Finn take left, I got right!” Finn immediately shot at the TIE on the left… Ben shot the TIE on the right and Rey flew right over them. BOOM… BOOM; the two TIEs were gone. Ben flushed forward, full engine thrust, “Hold on!!!” He yelled. He then did another Koiogran turn to face in the same direction as Rey, “Is Zorii okay?” Ben said. Poe reached up to disengage the shields. Finn yelled from the gunner tower, “BY THE FORCE, I think I am going to be sick!!!” Poe sat in his chair staring at Ben, his mouth wide open. Finn hurried to the refresher, emptying whatever was left in his stomach. “Rey, I am on your tail… hop into Triellus Trade Run,” Ben said. “Roger,” Rey engaged lightspeed, and off she was with Ben right behind her. Poe slowly turned to look at Rey ahead of them and sat back in the chair in pure bewilderment. Ben took a breath and exhaled it out hard, engaging autopilot. Finn came out and checked on Zorii, straightening out anything that got jumbled in all that mess. He grabbed the blanket that had been tossed about, checked on the straps they had on her, and replaced the blanket over her. He then headed for the cockpit, “She’s alright.” He said thumbing behind him. Poe still just stared into space. Finn looked to Ben, “That. Was. Insane!!!” Rey still on comms, “You knew I had it, didn’t you?” Rey said to Ben with confidence and her smile came through comms. Ben said, “Definitely, amazing job, Rey.” Finn slowly sat behind Ben, looking at Poe. Poe couldn’t even form words. Poe really thought of himself as the best pilot in the galaxy but there was no way he could have pulled that off on a freighter. He had to give it to Ben, but that would hurt his pride. Poe swiveled and hopped out of the co-pilot’s chair heading for Zorii to check on her. Finn retook the co-pilot’s chair, but he locked the chair looking at Ben. Ben was still trying to calm down from the events of the day. Finn asked Ben, “That was crazy Ben! Where did you learn to do all of that?” Ben looked at him, “Where do you think?” Finn said, “Han.” Ben nodded yes. Rey came through comms, “And I mean… he is Anakin Skywalker’s grandson.” Finn said to them both, “It’s like hitting the genetic lottery!” Rey couldn’t help but laugh a bit, “I know… right?” Finn grinned and shook his head in agreement, “You might have hurt Poe’s pride back there,” Finn lowered his voice a bit. Ben smiled and disengaged autopilot, “This is our stop,” he said.

## Gone Fishing

As the two ships broke out of hyperspace, Crait was in sight. Finn said, “Switching channels.” Rey said, “Falcon Wing, over and out.” She disconnected and he switched over to the Resistance channel. Poe came into the cockpit. Finn said over comms, “Traitor One, in orbit with Falcon Wing. Report.” Bastian Rixx came through comms, “Red Leader here, Traitor One, Falcon Wing. Crait is clear. Black is being joined by Dagger and Stiletto in 10. Should we touchdown and join you at Naboo?” Poe spoke up, “Negative. I need patrols 24/7 around this base as long as these Hutt Wars are taking place. Call in Aqua Squadron from Ajan Kloss, when they arrive, Red Squadron can break.” Roger, Black Leader, over and out,” Bastian sent over comms and disconnected. Finn looked to Ben, “Could you let him pilot her in?” Finn asked Ben. Finn took over controls, as Ben stood up to hand the captain’s chair to Poe Dameron. The two men would stare each other down as they crossed paths. Ben moved to the hold, checked on Zorii a bit, and looked through the intravenous fluids. He then moved from the main hold to Han’s quarters where he would try to keep quiet and away from prying eyes.

Poe took the helm, looked at Finn. Finn said to him, “You got to admit, insane right?” Finn thumbed behind him towards Ben’s general direction. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Poe said. “That happens when you are a sore loser,” Finn joked. Poe let out an exasperated sigh. “Poe Dameron dethroned,” Finn continued with a big grin on his face. “I said, I don’t want to talk about it,” Poe reiterated his previous statement. “No longer top gun,” Finn pressed. Poe snapped his neck to face Finn, “Alright… it was amazing; there I said it.” Finn laughed. Poe followed Rey in and hailed the medical sector of the base, “Black Leader here, Doc come in.” Dr. Harter Kalonia replied, “We’re waiting at Citizen’s Bay, but it's full here, you’ll need to land out away. Stretcher incoming.” Poe said, “Blaster fire to the stomach, emergency surgery, in recovery.” The doc shouted some instructions to her staff, returning to her commlink, “We’ll run out to you.” Poe found a spot to land. He flew the _Falcon_ to point the ramp towards where he could see the med team was incoming to them. Poe set the _Falcon_ down and went to open the ramp, then focused on Zorii. Finn initiated the shutdown sequence while BB-8 gave Poe a few beeps. “Okay, yeah buddy find supplies,” he said to BB-8. Finn came out of the cockpit into the hold, he was unstrapping all the fluid bags from the wall where they had been secured. Poe gently picked Zorii with one arm under her legs and the other arm under her arms, much like a bride. Finn arranged Zorii’s arms softly on her stomach, leaning her onto Poe more securely. He took the blanket and wrapped it around Zorii and around Poe. Zorii was not dressed for the weather in Crait. Together Finn and Poe walked down the ramp to meet Dr. Kalonia and her med team. “Easy… slow,” she guided Poe to set her down on the stretcher. She took her scanner and started to scan her vitals. Poe arranged the blanket on her, tucking it snugly around. She was still very much sedated, but she moaned a bit, and in barely a whisper she said, “Poe.” Poe teared up, grabbing her hand, “I am here Zo-bear, I am here.” Finn looked to the med team; they took the fluids from him. He knew there was no way that Poe would be able to go and help in Naboo. Rey came over to stand at Finn’s side. “He’s not going to go anywhere,” she said. “Nope, and with him not able to focus on anything else, I need to be here,” Finn said. Rey handed him the keycard to _Black Panther_. “Ben and I will go help,” Rey said. Finn looked to her, “I think you should stay, get supplies and reload the _Falcon_.” BB-8 rolled back up to the two of them, beeping at them. Rey said to him, “What else are we low on?” BB-8 beeped some more. “See I think I should take ‘ _you know who_ ’ hunting on the other side of the planet to stock up on meat,” Finn said to Rey. Rey looked at him confused. Finn would continue, “he needs to let some steam out, yeah?” Rey let that sink in. “Are you going to help him do that?” Rey asked. “Yes,” Finn said. “Hmm,” Rey said with a short pause before continuing, “I’ll man the war room.” Finn nodded and winked at her as he made his way back onto the ramp of the Falcon. Rey looked to BB-8, “Let’s get to the command center.” BB-8 gave her some reassuring beeps and followed behind her.

Ben heard a knock on the door inside the _Falcon_ ; his mind had been racing with the events that had happened earlier in the day. When he got up to answer it, he was greeted with a wide smile by Finn. “Let’s go hunt! We need food around here,” Finn said. Ben gave him a small smile and followed him to the cockpit. Finn plopped into the co-pilot’s chair and started to power up the _Falcon_. Ben dropped into the captain’s chair and looked to Finn, “Where do you want to hunt?” Finn looked to him, “We need meat, edible meat. And I don’t yet know this planet, so we’ll have to wing it.” Ben nodded, “I know a place nearby.” Finn shook his head and smiled, “Of course you do.” Ben went to mess with the buttons and switches and the _Falcon_ roared back to life. Ben said, “There is a large lake to the south, the miners of this planet would use it to fish out food reserves for their efforts decades ago. It’s probably undisturbed now.” Finn nodded, “Perfect.”

The two men flew the _Falcon_ over to the lake to the south of the temporary base that serviced the Resistance on Crait. They found a place to land and set the ship down. Finn moved from the cockpit to pull down the ramp, Ben followed him. “We need crates of some kind, to carry the load back,” Finn said. Ben knew where his dad had kept things like that, so he opened the grated hatch on the floor of the main hold to access the lower corridors of the Falcon. He started to hand Finn four empty crates that had been stacked together in a corner deep into the corridor. He then climbed back up and repositioned the hatch, “I am not sure four will be enough but it’s what we got,” Ben said to Finn. Finn flinched and asked, “How are you going to fill 4 crates of fish?” Ben looked to Finn, “The Dark Side of the Force thrives on ending life, Finn, while the Light Side of the Force thrives on preserving it. You can use that to your advantage in many ways, and it is essentially what creates the balance that the Force is continuously seeking.” Ben and Finn walked towards the ramp and Finn stopped, “Are we blaster firing fish out of the water?” He looked confused. Ben just kept walking down the ramp, “No.” Finn scratched his head and was going to ask more questions but decided to just follow. 

There was a fear in him, not of Ben necessarily, but of the Dark Side. Ben picked up on it, “Fear is an emotion that can fuel the Dark Side, Finn.” Finn followed him as they trekked through from the ship to the lakeside, “So, we shouldn’t be afraid?” Ben answered him, “Having the emotions isn’t the problem, it’s the actions that come because of them that are. If you can control your actions well enough, you can mitigate the grip the Dark Side will have on you.” Finn thought about that for a moment and asked, “Is the Dark Side sort of a lack of control of negative emotions?” Finn was genuinely curious as he was Force-sensitive. He had never really asked any of these questions before. “No, the Force isn’t a power you have, it’s just there. The Force is a manipulation of energy that you learn to bend to your will, and your will is heavily influenced by your emotions,” Ben explained as the two reached the lake. They saw in the near distance someone had actually built a dock of sorts. Ben deduced it might have been the miners that once occupied the planet. They decided to walk alongside the waterline towards it. They stopped at the few steps that led up to the dock. Ben was cautious, “Stay here, let me feel this out to see if it’s safe to walk on.” Finn nodded, “Alright.” Finn put the crates down and started to unstack them looking towards Ben who was now walking cautiously on the dock. “Looks good still, surprisingly enough,” Ben said to Finn. Finn started to walk behind Ben. “We don’t have anything but blasters, Ben. How are we going to fi… WOAH WHAT THE KRIFF IS THAT?!” Finn exclaimed and pointed in the horizon at a large whale-like creature that crept out of the surface and dove back down under the water. “Ben looked and he smiled, “That’s why we need more crates.” Finn stays behind, “Are they hostile?” He really knew so little of this planet. Ben shook his head no, “No, but you definitely don’t want to go for a dip in this lake. First, you’d float because it's salt bound, which explains why it’s red in color. The algae mix with the sodium borax that surrounds it and taints it that way. Secondly, you’d look like a tasty little morsel to other creatures underneath the water. That is called a Craitian Sea Serpent; it mostly feeds on mineral deposits and smaller sea creatures. Makes for a tasty meal though, at least better than food rations!” Ben said. Finn looked over the edge, “How deep in this thing?” Ben looked where Finn was looking, “Not too deep, but I wouldn’t jump in if I were you, the algae will stain your skin.” Finn took a few steps back, “I can’t swim anyway.” He looked over and saw a flock of what seems like birds, he pointed in their direction, “What about those?” Ben looked and replied, “Native birds to the lake. We could come back for those,” he said. He went to stand at the very edge of this old dock. 

Finn moved closer to him, “So how does this work?” Ben looked at him then looked back out to where the serpent was. He made efforts to block Rey out so she wouldn’t feel it all. He focused on it, and he brought himself to slow rhythmic breathing. He thought about the emotions he had felt in Nar Shaddaa at the Orange Lady, tapping into that energy --- the fear, the anxiety, the angst, the desire, the need. He drew up his hand, pointing it straight at the serpent. Finn watched him, took a few steps back. Ben felt the Dark Side of him build up energy inside him, he channeled it towards the creature. The object of his rage, his anger, his sadness, his loneliness, his guilt, his disgust… all of it was forced out of him onto his target. Finn backed up some more, he was feeling the emotions rolling off of Ben in waves. It agitated him. The creature felt attacked, it started to trash and recoil against Ben’s Dark Side, but it was a losing battle. Ben’s arm was shaking, the intensity of what he was doing was palpable. Finn could feel the life literally being choked out of the sea creature. He had never witnessed anything like that, “Wow…” he whispered to himself. The creature expired, then floated up to the surface. Ben dropped to his knees; both hands resting on them. Finn rushed over to him, “You okay?!?!” Ben nodded, he extended his hand out again and pulled the carcass of the creature to the shore. Finn looked at him in awe, “Okay we’re going to have to make several trips and Rey isn’t going to like the smell in the Falcon. That was unbelievable,” he said. Finn looked from Ben to the sea creature and then back to Ben. He noticed that Ben felt better getting all of that out of him. After a few minutes, Ben stood back up, “Let’s slice and dice it,” he said as he unclipped the Skywalker saber from his First Order belt. Finn followed him; he was still deep in thought. He wiped the wetness from his face, “Does doing things like that hurt you?” Ben got to work on the creature, applying a lot of what his uncle Chewie had taught him as a young boy. He answered Finn, “Yes, to take life or give it.” Finn had more questions, “Is it the same feeling for both?” Ben handed Finn pieces to put into the crates, “No, when you give life you are draining from your own life. In contrast, when you take life, you’re filled with all the energy of that lifeform and what it is feeling at the moment life escapes it.” Finn looked to him, “That must be awful to feel.” Ben nodded, “It is, actually. Now that I am more balanced, I definitely felt it more.” 

The two of them managed to get all four crates filled with seafood and they still couldn’t get all of it. They would have to unload and come back for the rest, Ben thought. Finn pulled out a commlink from his pocket, “Pirate Queen, come in. Traitor One here.” On the other side of the commlink, Maz Kanata would answer, “Finn! Where are you? Naboo was saved! The squads are flying back now.” Finn smiled, “Oh, good. Casualties?” Maz replied, “Ten percent.” Finn sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. That’s never easy news to hear. Ben looked at him curiously. Upon hearing Maz’s voice a rush of memories came to mind for Ben of his dad and Maz and the many adventures that had landed them at her castle in Takodana. He went back to his task. “Listen I need a favor,” Finn said over comms, “I need about ten empty food-grade crates out to the lake south of our encampment but here’s the thing, I need you to come _alone_ to deliver it.” Finn looked to Ben as if to ask him if that was okay. Ben nodded slightly. There was a slight pause, “Kid, what did you get into?” Finn answered, “Did a little hunting. We need food for these people.” Maz sighed, “Alright, but I am not sure there is a speeder here that fits... never mind, I’ll take a small planet hopper over. Are you sure I can’t bring some help?” Finn said, “I am 100% sure, just you.” Maz replied, “Fine, we’ll do it your way, kid. Pirate Queen, over and out.” 

## Maz and Ben

Finn looked around, “What are the trees here?” He pointed over yonder. Ben following his gaze, “I am not sure, but I bet salt has got something to do with it.” Finn chuckled, “Right.” Finn thought they might be able to harvest and build some shelter expanse to house people. Ben said, “That’s not a bad idea, but salt tends to deteriorate timber, so don’t count on anything permanent.

After a little while, they heard a small ship land next to the _Falcon_. Maz opened the side door to the craft, stood at the top, and looked at Finn and then the young man standing next to him. Maz couldn’t help but put a hand over her mouth and cry. She had felt Ben Solo die, then heard he was alive and had returned to the Light. She thought that maybe what she had felt was Leia becoming one with the Force, a fluke she thought. Ben crossed his arms in front of him, looked at the ground. He felt shame, this woman had helped to raise him, as did Chewie. A flood of memories rushed in him of happier times. To Maz, Ben Solo was still the little boy that would crawl under the tables at her bar and play with Chewie on the Falcon. He was that little boy even now. “I… oh, look at you. You look… look… like…” Maz couldn’t contain it, she started to sob. Finn came up the ramp, he hugged Maz Kanata, “I know… he does. He really, really does.” The tears flowed from her now freely. Ben’s lip started to quiver with emotion; he knew they meant to say he looked like Han. He knew he did. Maz unwrapped from Finn and moved down the ramp and in a rush of emotions, she reached up to Ben. Ben bent down and flung himself around Maz’s open arms. The two hugged each other and cried for what to Finn seemed like hours. “I love you kid,” she said. “We love you so much, Ben. We never lost hope.” She pulled away from him, and cupped his face in between her small warm hands, “Never.” She said. She wiped the tears away from Ben’s face, “Oh they’d be so proud of you. Rey did it. She said she would save you and she did,” she hugged him again. Ben couldn’t speak, he was deep into an ugly cry. He felt that if he could have hugged his mom one last time, it would have felt like this. He couldn’t even keep the walls up from Rey. **_“Are you okay? Where are you?”_** Rey sent over through their Force Bond. He didn’t answer. So, she got back to her workstation near her tent, she focused. She appeared in front of Ben, watching him hug Maz Kanata. She bent down and reached for his hand; he opened his eyes to see his beloved there. He opened his hand to take hers. Maz felt a presence, “Rey.” She said. Ben shook his head in agreement. “Oh, you love her…” she added. Ben said, “I do,” without a millisecond of hesitation in his voice. Maz looked at his tear-stained face, she pressed her forehead to his, “and she loves you.” They had a moment the three of them. Finn looked on and he didn’t mind being an onlooker. He was glad to see that Maz was able to feel through the Force the love that his best friend had for Ben Solo and that it was equally reciprocated to her. He wiped a few tears from his own face. Maz looked to him, “Chewie… he will want to see you, come back with me.” Finn said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Maz. The Resistance isn’t going to see him the way we do. To them, he’s Kylo Ren. Even to Poe, the other Admirals and Lieutenants, the people. They wouldn’t understand. Not yet,” he said. Maz thought about that for a moment, “There is much to do,” she cupped Ben’s chin. Through sniffled and muffled sobs Ben said, “Dad.” Maz rubbed his face gently, “he gave his life for you, Ben. And he would do it a thousand times over, so would she,” she said her tears returning. Ben fell to his knees and hung his head in his hands. Maz looked back to Finn and she could feel that Rey was there, even though she couldn’t see her. Rey all of a sudden disappeared from Ben’s view. 

Back in the camp, she put her books down and rushed towards a speeder she could use. She searched through the hundreds, no thousands now, of people that called this encampment home, she caught sight of Chewbacca and rushed over to him. “I need you to come with me,” she implored Chewie. Chewie could sense the turmoil in her, so he immediately agreed. “Roooarrgh ur roo,” _{I have a bad feeling about this}._ Chewie followed Rey and found a speeder he could fit into, Rey hoped behind him pulling down her goggles. They sped in the direction of Ben, Finn, and Maz. It would take them a little bit longer to get there.

Maz hugged Ben again. She could tell that what he had needed the most was this, his family. He had had it all along, but it had been twisted and tainted by Snoke and Palpatine. Ben said, “I wasted… so much… time.” Maz replied, “Time is not something we can ever get back, but it teaches us to make better use of it as we move through life,” she took his hands in hers, looked at him and smiled. “Bennn, alirefu hwis eow wrgo.” _{Failure is how we grow.}_ Ben always understood Maz, having learned her language from a very small boy. He hugged her again. “I am sorry, so sorry, Auntie.” She held him tight, “I know, I know… my sweet boy.” The two would hold each other for a while. Finn heard a speeder coming and looked over, it was Chewie and Rey. Chewie couldn’t believe his eyes. Rey disembarked from the speeder and ran over to Ben, she wrapped herself around him as Maz turned to look at Chewie, his face said it all. Maz said to him, “I know it hurts, Chewie, but this is our little boy. We, you and me, have to take responsibility for him now… it’s what Leia and Han would want of us.” Chewie looked at her, he would growl, “Mu waa waa.” _{Please leave me alone.}_ He went back towards the speeder, but Maz followed him, “Chewbacca, he needs us.” Chewie growled at Maz, his voice breaking and tears forming in his eyes, “Acwo orahananwowa acrawh, Ah rasc whooao rcworawaro. Ah anoohowo acahsc, ohahanan raanohraroc anoohowo acahsc, rhhuao Ah rasc whooao rcworawaro.” _{He killed Han; I am not ready. I love him, will always love him, but I am not ready.}_ The Wookie looked at Ben Solo, as Rey looked at him pleading to him with her eyes, and let out a curdling growl, “Rooohu ohworcwo oohurc anahrracao. Acoooh oaoohuanwa rooohu?” _{You were our light, how could you?}_ Rey looked back to Ben, who broke down again. She held him. Chewie got on the speeder and went back to the base. He wouldn’t tell anyone about Ben Solo being alive or being here on Crait, but he was also grieving his best friend, Han, still. Maz looked to Rey and Ben, “It will take some time, but I promise you he loves you.” Ben said in a soft whisper through the sobs, “Monster.” Rey just hugged him again and tightened her arms around him. Maz sighed and turned to Finn, “Let’s get this back to the camp, Finn,” she turned to Rey, “You are on Tatooine right? Bring the _Falcon_ over, load up with supplies and head there, I’ll come to visit in a few days. We have a lot of work to do.” Rey looked at her and said, “Yes, yes we do.” Maz walked back into her small craft, bringing out crates. “Let’s feed these people,” she said as she reached out to get her knife, she started to expertly cut through the sea creature and fillet it with finesse, after all, she did own a bar. Finn helped her best he could, but he wasn’t as good as Ben or Maz at butchering. Maz started trying to teach Finn, he would need these skills if he was going to regularly feed these people. 

Rey helped Ben calm and settle. It had been a tough day for them both. “I don’t blame him for hating me,” Ben said. Rey responded, “He doesn’t hate you, on the contrary, he loves you. He’s just having to process it all too, just like we are.” Her voice was soothing to him. As Maz and Finn worked through the butchering and packing, Rey asked Ben, “How did you guys fish that thing out?” Ben couldn’t really answer because he was lost in the emotions he was feeling. He thought he was never going to forgive himself for what he did to his father. Finn realizing Ben was in his own thoughts, answered Rey, “Ben used the Force, it was awesome to behold it from the safety of the shore, here…” he pointed to the spot he had stood, far away from where Ben had been. Rey chuckled, “Well, however it happened, it looks like you’ll have enough to feed an army.” Finn replied, “Ya think? This thing is huge! Maz how are we going to cook this?” Maz smiled, “We roast it kiddo. Ohhh and I have some old Mantellian pepper that will make it,” she blew a kiss with her right hand, “delicious.” She looked to Rey, “you should take some of this home; not much on Tatooine. I’ll even throw a pinch of Mantellian pepper in for you.” Rey agreed with Maz, “Yes, sure thing.” Maz nodded. 

Ben felt a bit better; he knew it had to do with the proximity of his dyad. Rey had joined Finn and Maz in the butchering effort. It was going quite slow for his taste, and he was hungry all of the sudden. He lit up Anakin’s lightsaber, which immediately made Maz turn and smile, and he got to work with them, putting the skills Chewie had taught him to good use. Maz smiled as he joined them, “Where it belongs,” she said pointing to the famous saber. Ben managed a slight smile, he looked to Rey and proceeded to instruct her on how to butcher meat via lightsaber. The sun started to set on the group, but they’d have enough food for several nights. When they finished, they loaded up Maz’s craft and anything spare went into the Falcon. Finn would drive Maz and the supply load back to the base. “We’ll catch up with you in an hour or so,” she told Finn and Maz. Finn answered, “You got it.” They sped away in Maz’s craft and left Rey and Ben to themselves.


	9. Chapter 8: The Forest Has Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we see Ben and Rey get to know each other more. Ben struggles with coming to terms with what really has happened to him in his short life. The lovers have their very first real date on the planet of Crait.
> 
> The Spice Crew is enlightened and signs up to help the Resistance attain access to a First Order datapad that is either a) clean itself, or b) hackable by Babu Frik or Maz Kanata so the traces land far and away from their current location. 
> 
> Dr. Harter Kalonia meets up with Ben Solo and resolves to help him get through the trauma he has suffered. Speaks to both him and Rey about a plan to help him on Tatooine. 
> 
> The bounty hunter realizes she needs assistance in acquiring this target, in the meantime rigs the Forest by Crait’s main South Lake with surveillance.

## First Date

Rey walked out to the shore of the lake to look at the water, “Why is it red?” She asked Ben who walked up behind her. Ben looked at the big lake with her, “Algae mixes in with sodium borax and turns it red.” Rey looked at the sunset in the mountains and the reflection of it on the red-tinged lake. Ben stood next to her, following her gaze. Rey wondered if people could go swimming in it. “No, you cannot,” Ben said. Rey smacked her teeth with her tongue, “Can you swim?” she asked innocently. Ben looked at her, “Yes, I can. Very well actually.” She looked to him, the wind catching a few hairs that had come loose around her face, “Another thing you’ll have to teach me.” She looked particularly beautiful in the dim light of the emerging night to him. “Hungry?” he asked her. “Famished!” Rey said. If there is one thing Ben had learned in these few days with her was that she could eat anything, and often did. He smiled and looked around for some wood. Rey looked at him curiously, “What are you doing?” He rustled around, “Looking for wood to start a fire and cook.” Rey gave him a look of surprise, “Wait, you can cook?” Ben made a face, “Yes, Ben can cook and swim,” he said sarcastically with a grin. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about cooking actual food,” Rey smiled at him and joined in picking up a tinder that can be used for a fire. “Maz and my dad actually taught me,” Ben chuckled, “Mom wasn’t much of a cook, Dad on the other hand enjoyed it. He wasn’t very good at traditional cooking, but he liked to try. What he was good at was open-fire cooking. My mom said that that was one of the reasons she fell for him.” Rey smiled at him, handing him her sticks, “So is this how you’re going to win my heart?” Ben grinned at her, “I thought I did that already by resurrecting you.” Ben walked back a bit from the water, started to pile the wood. “Actually, I think it was way before that,” Rey said. Ben looked to her, staring at her, taking her in. “What?” Rey asked capriciously. “You’re beautiful,” he said. Rey’s cheeks flushed a rose. Ben continued, “hand me your saber.” She did so, and he lit both hers and his own. He carefully clashed the weapons together; the sparks starting a fire. Ben turned both of them off, handing Rey his mother’s lightsaber. She took it and clipped it to her belt. When she looked the fire was tinted a red color, almost the same as the lake itself. She thought that was beautiful and smiled. “There is also algae in the wood,” Ben said.

Ben thought his dad always kept cooking stuff in the _Falcon_. “Be right back,” he said to Rey as he walked to the ship and up its ramp. In the lower corridors, he had seen it when he had looked for empty crates. He pulled on the hatch and went in, he found what he was looking for and hoisted that crate up. He got himself up again and closed the grated hatch. He picked up the crate, Ben took some of the seafood that Maz had packed for them and brought it all outside back to Rey. Rey was curious, “What’s in there?” Ben smiled putting the crate down. “Always be prepared,” he said as he started to look through the crate thinking back to his dad’s biggest lesson. He had found his dad’s old cooking supplies. “Wow, is that durasteel?” Rey asked as she pulled out a large concave plate from the crate. “Yes, that is,” Ben said, “we can use it to cook on.” Rey looked at the sides, “It’s missing pieces?” She looked back in the crate of cooking supplies. Ben pulled out some pieces, handing them to her. She took them, inspected them, and then saw that they clipped into the sides, “something screws into here.” She looked to Ben who was holding a metal handle. “Aha!” She said taking the handle and screwed all of the pieces together. Ben took the seafood and put it on the plate, taking the handle and moving it into position in the fire they had going. 

“It’s getting cold,” Rey said. Ben handed her the handle, “I’ll get a blanket from inside.” She took the handle from him and smiled. Ben made his way back to the _Falcon_ and brought out a blanket and some towels his dad kept around stuffed in a cabinet by the main cabin. When he made it back, Rey had managed to dig out a durasteel oddly shaped spatula of sorts out of the crate. Ben plopped the blanket and towels on the ground and grabbed the handle from Rey, “break it up with the flat side of that,” Ben said to her as he pointed to the spatula. Rey did as he instructed, “Ahh I see now, fancy!” Ben looked at her and chuckled. The flesh was turning a nice red color from the wood fire and it smelled wonderful to Rey. She grabbed the handle back from Ben, “think I am getting the hang of this cooking thing.” Ben smiled, “Maybe.” He got up and proceeded to lay out the towels and unfolded the blanket. He turned to her, “That looks nicely done,” he said pointing to the durasteel pan of fire-roasted Craitian Sea Serpent. Rey pulled the whole thing out setting it on the side. Ben dug around in the crate once more and pulled out some plates, eating utensils too. He handed Rey the plates putting the utensils on the side. She held out two plates side by side to him and he took the spatula and served them both. He then put one utensil on each plate and rearranged himself on the towels he had laid out, “Come, and give me those.” Rey moved to him, handing him both plates. She took a seat next to him, scooting close. She took one plate from him. He set his own down and pulled the blanket over them both, picking up his plate once again. He took a bite, it was decent… certainly not like the meals his chefs would make on the _Finalizer_ , but at least it tasted good enough. “It’s good,” he said to her. Rey took her own bite and to her, it was the best meal she ever had so she scarfed it down and got herself some more. As she plopped back down next to him and scooted back in close to him, pulling the blanket over her. “As far as first dates go, this is the best one I’ve been on so far,” she smiled to him. Of course, he knew this was the first date, ever, for each of them and first one together. “Well, we can only go up from here,” Ben said with a smile.

Ben got himself a second helping too finishing off the portion that they had cooked. The night had settled in on Crait, so it was completely dark, as Crait had no moons to reflect light. It would soon get too cold to stay outdoors. Ben put his arm around Rey, snuggling the blanket around them more tightly. Rey looked up at him, he stared into the fire. “If I forget to tell you later, thank you,” she said to him. He looked to her, locking onto her eyes, he whispered, “For what?” Rey smiled, “for loving me, for choosing me, for being there for me.” Ben kissed her forehead, “Ditto.” And they had, they had made the conscious choice to be together despite all that was stacked against them. 

She reached up to his face, she tilted his head to face her. She gently stroked a finger around his lips, her green eyes flickered with the red of the fire against the dark night. He stared at her, then he leaned in and kissed her softly. He whispered an old poem he knew to her, “You shine with a light so bright, the days become endless, and never turn to night. You shine brighter than the stars in the sky, I am yours and I know you are mine, I’ll be there standing by your side, hand in hand, walking through this life,” He kissed her again, she asked him in a whisper, “How do you know so much?” Ben answered her, still kissing her softly, “I was the son of a senator,” he kissed her again and again, “I visited many worlds when I was young, went to really good schools, and I was fascinated by poetry at one time,” She sat up a bit, inching closer to him, “I never had the chance to go to school.” He kissed her again, “and yet,” and kissed her again, “you’re so much smarter,” and kissed her yet again, “than all of us.” She kissed him back fully, passionately, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her onto his lap. They got lost in each other and the time passed by too quickly and the cold hit harshly. They got up and picked up after themselves. Ben took to making sure the fire was out, while Rey was picking up all the cooking utensils and supplies returning them to the crate. Ben picked up the blankets and towels and the both of them went into the _Falcon_. 

Ben went to the refresher to wash up the dishes they had used. Rey put the towels and blankets away, sneaking up to Ben in the refresher. “Ah, my God, you scared me!” Ben exclaimed. Rey laughed, “I am so sorry!” She was still laughing. “Not funny! I am not used to anyone being in the refresher with me!” Ben chuckled. “Spaceships force you to be up close and personal, especially a Corellian YT Light Freighter,” Rey said. She traded places with Ben and washed her hands. Ben was just staring at her now. She reached across to grab the towel and dry her hands. She popped him a kiss on the mouth and exited the refresher. She dropped into the captain’s chair and started the _Falcon_ up. He followed her and took a seat in the co-pilot’s chair but didn’t turn the swivel, he stayed facing her. “Are you going to stare at me all night?” She asked smiling. “Yes, and for the rest of my life,” he said. Occasionally, she’d flick her eyes to him just to see if he was still staring; he was. She didn’t mind at all.

## Hidden in the Trees

The bounty hunter had landed on the other side of the forest having tracked the _Comeuppance_ back from her hideout on the planet of Rishi; it was mid-afternoon. She made her way through the forest where she encountered varied lifeforms, some she had never seen before. A pack of foxlike creatures with crystalline formations for fur that glistened across the landscape was by far the most interesting. The sounds the creatures made as they moved along made for some interesting audio cover. The curiosity got the best of her, so she killed one just to see it up close, examining the crystals that covered it to see what if anything she could salvage for credits. Depending on how that went, she might need to make several trips to this planet if it proved to be fruitful. 

She took her dagger and went to cut into the animal, upon further examination she found that the crystals were of pure sodium that had attached to the fur. It wasn’t that the creature created these formations themselves, it was that salt was all around the planet and in the air. The fur from young cubs would start to accumulate this salt and the extreme changes in temperature of the planet turned them into crystals. 

She touched the white, powder-like surface drawing it to her mouth. As she suspected, pure salt. It was very interesting indeed. She wondered how it would taste if she cooked the meat over a fire and decided to give it a try. She made a small fire, camped out by her ship. She cooked the meat and to her surprise, it was very good, she was sure the crystals could be ground into table salt, so she skinned the animal and preserved it by rubbing it onto the ground; salt was a great preservative. She packed it up and stored it on her ship. 

As the sun set, given that this planet has no moons, it became very dark and very cold. This could only help her cause. She decided to bundle up and head closer to the lake she had settled her ship at, heading north a bit. She always kept a variety of clothing just to blend in wherever her bounties or jobs would end up taking her. As she walked to the lake, she noticed another fire, and behind it the ship that she had really wanted to find, the _Millennium Falcon_. She had been right, putting the long-range tracking beacon on the other ship at Daalang’s Trax Station proved to land her where she wanted. She took her macrobinoculars out, taking cover carefully behind the trees, she didn’t want to get too close to the shore of the lake, especially as dark as the night was here in case someone sneaked up on her.

She zoomed in and found that it was the primary target she had been after, the Jedi Rey. She was sitting by the fire with an unidentified male; a suitor she deduced. They were cooking something and then she saw the two of them get close and even at some point started to make out and it solidified her suspicions that this male was her partner. Perfect she thought, just the two of them. She could easily take out the male, a simple human by the looks of it. Then again, he could be a soldier in the Resistance and may have some training, she certainly wasn’t sure. But killing him would enrage the Jedi, and Jedi’s are a tough target to take, even she knew that. One that was angry could backfire on her. She would wait, she needed the Jedi alone.

She thought that maybe she could run back to her ship, grab another long-range tracker, and could possibly install it onto the _Falcon_ but that was incredibly risky. To be quite frank, she thought using two of these devices was extremely costly too. Long-range trackers were about 100,000 credits. But as she looked at the couple, she saw they were starting to pack up their camp. It was getting pretty cold. She wouldn’t have time for all of that anyways. She knew she could quite easily sell this information to the First Order for a sizeable amount, the fact that they were here, on Crait. Information as to who the male was would increase that amount, as now we know the young Jedi has a weakness; something to exploit. But she was much more interested in the bigger payout. If she brought the Jedi to the First Order, that would secure big money; probably over a million credits. After all, she was the killer of two Supreme Leaders, which is why she was being cautious. If she could kill Snoke and Kylo Ren, she wasn’t one to be trifled with or taken for a fool. This would be quite the challenge.

She saw that the _Falcon_ was now flying out of the area, so she rushed back to her ship. Her instinct was to follow it, but if she did, she might be walking into a camp full of Resistance. Then it would be impossible to take her. To take this Jedi alone, after how many highly skilled targets the girl had taken out, is suicide and she re-evaluated. She would need to bring in additional help and she knew it. It was the smart thing to do. So, she let the _Falcon_ go, but then she thought of a different tactic --- surveillance. The forest and this lake, especially, seem to be a good location for such an endeavor as the place served as a great source of food. If the Resistance did in fact have a camp out here, they’d return to this place often. She searched for the high-definition field surveillance cameras she had recently purchased and put them to good use. She would, now that the lake was clear, put six cameras in the trees ensuring they were well hidden and connected to her handheld receiver and the main receiver back on Rishi. She would come to find out who the human male is and how she could use him to lure the Jedi into capture. But she also knew that fighting the Jedi one on one would prove extremely difficult so she would get one other bounty hunter, another First Order sympathizer, to help her and split the bounty.

She installed all six of the cameras she had. At that point, she wished she had a few more as the lake was pretty big, but she concentrated them around the clearing where she had spotted the young couple before. She made sure to cover them well to lessen the chance of detection. She connected each one to the signature emanating from her hand-held device. As soon as she got back to Rishi, she’d connect that signal to her main surveillance station. Now she had to think about who she could trust enough to assist her in capturing the Jedi, which could prove difficult. They’d have to keep all of this a secret, long enough to find out the identity of the male suitor in order to use him to their advantage. She knew the Jedi would be worth a lot more if they could bring her in alive and luring her to meet them would be the best way they could assure victory. But the girl’s Resistance friends would be problematic. She had to make sure that the Jedi would come to rescue her mate, alone.

The bounty hunter got on her ship, activated her ship’s cloaking device, and decided to fly over in the direction that the _Falcon_ had been headed. Her ship, the _Greed_ , was an expensive Tri-Wing S-91x Pegasus Starfighter capable of not only hyperspace travel but also cloaking capabilities. It included enough room for two passengers and an R2 series astromech droid slot. It solidified her status as a successful bounty hunter and mercenary. The _Greed_ got close and spotted the temporary base that the Resistance had made for themselves after the remnants of the Battle of Crait had happened and the First Order leveled what was left of the old Rebellion station. Figuring that the First Order wouldn’t come back to this planet, the Resistance took advantage and set up a makeshift base on the other side of the planet. She let her aerial cameras take photographs of the base and as she was doing so, she saw a few Resistance squadrons come back to the base. One of them she recognized to be Poe Dameron’s Black Squadron, although the General himself was missing from the lineup. He pilots a black X-wing that most bounty hunters and mercenaries know to stay away from. The best pilot in the galaxy was tough to take in one on one aerial combat; no one had ever succeeded and lived to tell about it. She had to get out of there and quick, if they decided to run a cloaking scanner, they’d surely pick her up. She had to move quickly.

She made her way to the Triellus Trade Run, engaging the hyperdrive thrusters she put the _Greed_ on autopilot. She’d have to drop out to cross into the Bothan Run that would land her on her outpost planet. She’d have some time to think about who she’d reach out to in cooperation. 

A name kept popping into her head, so she went with her gut. She hailed the young Mandalorian Mirta Gev, a legend in her own right and the daughter of Makin Marec and Ailyn Vel. “Fett Hunter come in, Rabbit Kloda here,” she sent through private comms systems. On the other end, a female answered, “Well, well, well if it isn’t the little Chaakrabbit herself, Bazine Netal,” Mirta said. “It is. I have a proposition for you, high-prized target… how interested are you in serving the First Order?” Bazine asked. Mirta would laugh and respond, “Haven’t you heard? Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is dead, and the First Order was left in shambles, how is this to be profitable?” Bazine would reply, “You think that their bank accounts have also been wiped?” Mirta pondered that question, “Well, of course not. But who is the target?” Bazine was hesitant, “Of course, I won’t directly say, or I wouldn’t stay in business, but I can tell you that it would reunite the First Order if we got them and it may stabilize the galaxy, I mean these Hutt Wars alone will be bloody.” Mirta responded, “Wow… that big huh?” Bazine said, “Yup.” Mirta was intrigued, “Sending you a deposit and a location,” she said as the encrypted transmission came through on the _Greed_. “Estimated time to arrival there from my current location is,” Bazine paused a bit before continuing, “2 hours and 20 minutes.” Mirta would confirm, “Excellent, so meet you in Gamor System at that location in 3 hours,” she said. Bazine replied, “Roger, Rabbit Kloda over and out.”

## Healing Zorii

She piloted the _Falcon_ over to where the base was. And as she dropped into the landing, Ben stood up and went to the master cabin closing the door. Rey exited the cockpit, she looked for Ben. **_“I am here, in dad’s room. Don’t want anyone to see me,”_** Ben sent her the message through their Force Bond. She lowered the ramp. **_“I won’t be long; promise,”_** she sent him. **_“I’ll wait here,”_** he teased. **_“You better,”_** she teased right back. **_“Let me know how Zorii is, too,”_** he asked of her. She smiled not that he could see, **_“Of course.”_** As she walked off the ramp of the _Falcon_ , Finn came running towards her, “Rey! I thought you might have decided to head out,” he said to her. “No, but he,” she said thumbing to the ship, “did cook me an amazing dinner,” she whispered to him. “Oh, he can cook?” Finn inquired curiously. “Yes,” she replied. Finn smiled, “So, like a first date?” Rey blushed and nodded. “I remember those,” Finn said. Rey flinched, “Wait, what? You have had dates?” Finn chuckled, “Stormtroopers were both boys and girls, you know?” Her mouth dropped open as Finn held the door to go into Citizen’s Bay. As she walked through, she felt the warmth inside. It was a stark difference. “Man, it gets so cold in this planet,” Rey said, “how is Zorii?” Finn said, “She’s still out but I think Dr. Kalonia is going to do bacta submersion therapy soon to ensure she heals as fast as she can.” Rey sent Ben a message, **_“Think I could heal Zorii and I’d be okay?”_** Ben thought that over, **_“Hmmm, not sure but maybe I can help and increase your healing power using our Dyad.”_** Ben replied to her. **_“Well, not like you can come in here unnoticed, maybe through our Force Bond?”_** Rey asked Ben. **_“We could try it,”_** Ben replied. Rey made her way to the medical sector of the camp, Finn followed. “So, they were able to take that dreadnought out before it could fire its weapon. _‘You know who’_ had mentioned there were at least 6 of them that he knew that was not in Exegol. They are planet killers and a way for them to enact fear and exert their power, we need to find them and take them out,” Finn said being careful not to say Ben Solo’s name out loud. “Probably quite a few more than that, we need to ensure we keep our ears open across the galaxy,” Rey said. “And we got reports that the remnant is immediately reorganizing under someone named Ellian Zahra, she is apparently trying to make herself the new Supreme Leader but isn’t being accepted by some parts of the First Order, so there is quite the infighting going on over there. We can use that to our advantage,” Finn said. Rey stopped walking repeating the name Finn mentioned to herself, “Ellian Zahra.” Ben heard her, **_“What about her?”_** He sent to her. **_“She’s apparently trying to make herself the new Supreme Leader, but some regiments aren’t immediately buying it,”_** Rey sent to Ben as she continued walking. **_“If you thought I was bad, she’s diabolical. We need to clean their bank accounts out and quick, and we can use this time to do so,”_** Ben said. Rey said, **_“I hope that Zorii can help us with that very thing, she’s very well connected across the galaxy.”_**

Rey and Finn made it to the medical sector, Dr. Kalonia greeted Rey warmly. “She’s stable and healing well, whoever did the surgery under those situations is brilliant,” Dr. Kalonia said. Rey said, “Her name was Dr. Cathe Mothma.” Harter Kalonia of course had heard of Cathe Mothma, granddaughter of the famous Senator and former Chancellor Mon Mothma of Chandrila. “We thought she died,” Dr. Kalonia said with surprise. “Nope very much alive, mercenary doctor with her own frigate ship.” Dr. Kalonia flinched and stutter-stepped, “Really?” Finn was looking for Zorii, “Zorii?” Dr. Kalonia moved to the room where Poe was reading to Zorii, “He’s been like this all night,” she said as she moved to take vitals and check scans. Rey hugged Poe, “I had no idea you could actually read,” she said to him smiling. “Oh hush, she used to love it when I read to her at night,” Poe said. Finn said, “At least he is in a better mood, especially after losing the title of _‘Best Pilot in the Galaxy’_ today.” Poe gave Finn a look, “I said, I don’t want to talk about it.” Rey turned to Dr. Kalonia, “Harter, can you pull the curtain and close the door, I need to talk to you,” Rey said. Poe looked curiously to his best friend and then shot a look to his other one, Finn. Finn smiled at him. Dr. Kalonia did as she instructed and drew the curtain, shutting the door to the tiny room. “Okay I cannot explain it, but I can heal Zorii at least partly, I am still recovering. Just need you to ensure I don’t go too far,” Rey said as she looked to Finn, Poe, and Harter. She looked to Finn, “You’ll feel it if you are looking for it.” Rey was rolling up her sleeves as she approached Zorii. Poe reiterated to Rey, “Wait, what are you doing again?” Finn looked to him, “Force healing Zorii,” he said to Poe who let Rey move into position. Poe turned to Harter, “This stays in this room.” Dr. Kalonia nodded. Rey extended her hand over Zorii’s stomach, she looked at Finn. She slowed her breathing and closed her eyes. Finn stared intently at her, focusing on her. **_“Breathe, Rey. Breathe.”_** Ben sent to her, he could feel the Force tugging at the spot she was standing on, even if it was far away from him. Ben concentrated on her, she felt him. She opened her eyes, and there was Ben right in the medbay with her. He reached his hand out too right by Rey’s hand, placing it over Zorii even though he couldn’t see her, he would extend her power with his own. Finn felt another presence even if he couldn’t see it, he knew it was Ben. Rey felt the healing energy of the Force almost double in her. Suddenly, Zorii shot awake! “WHAT THE KRIFF?!!?” Zorii exclaimed breathing hard, she looked around frantically as if her memory was still at the Bilbousa Saloon. She found Poe’s face, Poe swooped in, “Zo’…. Zo’-bear!” He hugged her tightly. “What is happening?” Zorii asked. Rey and Ben sat there, staring at each other in utter disbelief. They had just amplified their power, tenfold. They barely felt weak, each of them… yet Zorii was completely healed, including all her scars, incisions, and even previous injuries. Zorii was clearly disoriented, so Finn filled her in on where she was and what Rey and, he suspected, Ben had just done for her. Poe was still hugging Zorii while Dr. Kalonia sat stunned in silence. **_“Wow, Rey,”_** Ben said to her through their Force Bond. “Yeah, that… wow,” Rey said out loud. Finn looked at Rey, “You’re not kidding, Rey. Wow…” Zorii looked to Rey. “By the Force, what kind of magic is this?” She asked Rey rhetorically. Rey rushed to hug her and the two of them hugged for a while, tightly. Poe hugged both of them, and when Rey started to pull away Poe swooped in before Zorii could say anything and kissed her fully, passionately. Zorii didn’t pull away, letting him dote on her.

## A Fractured Mind

Finn smiled, flicking his eyes to Rey and back to Poe. In that moment he thought of Rose and wondered if he’d ever feel that kind of love. Rey smiled; she was holding back the tears. They had found Zorii and brought her home. She looked to Dr. Kalonia, “Harter, I can’t do this all the time and I have help,” Rey explained. Ben watched her, she told Dr. Harter Kalonia the entire story. She had been the doctor that brought Ben Solo into the world, and she started to cry. “Where is he?” Dr. Kalonia cried tears of joy, “I just want to see him. It’s been decades… what does he look like? He must have changed so much, grown so much. He always looked so much like Han,” Rey hugged her tightly looking at Ben, “He is safe and with me. I am sure you’ll be able to see each other soon.” Ben nodded once. Zorii looked at Rey and said, “Tell him, thank you, Rey please.” Rey nodded as she continued to hug Dr. Kalonia. The two of them untangled so that Dr. Kalonia could check and scan Zorii, she wiped at her tears as she did. “She’s perfect, I mean not even a scratch, no incisions, nothing,” Dr. Kalonia said, “Not in pain?” She asked Zorii. “No… not at all,” Zorii responded. “Looks like not even the sedative lingered,” Dr. Kalonia said. Zorii looked at her own stomach in pure bewilderment, even older injuries had all but been erased from her body. 

Dr. Kalonia looked to Rey, “How does this work?” Rey answered looking to Dr. Kalonia, “We transfer a bit of our life energy to our target, and it heals everything. But of course, if it was just me doing it, it would drain my own life energy to dangerous levels. You could technically kill yourself doing it,” she flicked her eyes to Ben knowing that is exactly what he had done for her on Exegol. Dr. Kalonia asked another question, “Does that life energy replenish? Or is it lost forever? And is that a Force power that all Force-users have?” Rey continued to answer her questions looking back to her, she knew as a medical professional she would have many more, “It replenishes over time, the more you use the longer it takes to come back. And well, the Force isn’t a power you have, it already exists around you. The power you have is being able to manipulate it to your will, but I am not sure just anyone can do this. I still don’t know much about it as Leia and Luke didn’t finish my training.” Dr. Kalonia said, “But Ben did. At least as far as he could, given what happened to him,” she sighed, “and then quite probably learned more about the other side of the Force once he was stolen from us. Leia always worried about him. I told her she should keep him home, with her. But she insisted on sending him to Luke for proper Jedi training.” Dr. Kalonia said. “Han wasn’t too keen on that, he thought the boy should stay with us,” she sighed again.

Rey asked Dr. Kalonia, “When did you first meet Ben, Harter?” She would answer, “I helped to bring him into the world; my son Martin was just a year old himself when Ben was born in Chandrila. They sort of grew up together. You could say they were cousins.” Rey would then ask her, “I didn’t know you have a son, Harter.” Dr. Kalonia responded, “He was a pilot for the Resistance, like his father before him. He was killed in action a year ago at the Battle of Crait in one of the transports that didn’t make it. My daughter Evelynn works with us, too. She’s an engineer and back on Ajan Kloss, she was much younger than Martin though. I am not sure if Ben would remember her.” As soon as Ben heard about Martin’s death, he felt an immediate heaviness as he knew that battle could be directly pointed to him. He cut off the Force Bond and Rey knew why. 

Rey asked her, “You know that Ben was formerly known as Kylo Ren, Harter, yes?” She didn’t want to skip over that fact. Dr. Kalonia replied, “Yes, but that wasn’t _our_ Ben. That was some dark, twisted version of the little boy I’d often watch for Leia at our house on Chandrila. I do not blame him for what he did when he was under the weight of Palpatine’s thumb. And we all know Snoke was just another puppet that Palpatine used to get at Ben. Even Marty knew that. He just considered him to be lost, he hoped like we all did, that one day we would be able to break him free of those chains. Make no mistake, Ben is a prisoner of war.” At this point, all four of them were intently listening to Dr. Kalonia. Poe chimed in, “I am not sure that most people would agree, Harter. Finn and Rey want us to pardon him, let him prove himself. But I am on the fence, I cannot trust him. God knows if I ever will. I am not as forgiving as you are,” Poe had held on to Zorii’s hand and now turned his gaze to it. “If you turn him away now, you risk more emotional damage being done to him. As a medical professional, I can tell you that Ben will have long-standing post-traumatic stress disorder in addition to what we call disoriented-disorganized attachment disorder. Ben was raised primarily by nurse droids who cannot provide the attachment, comfort, and emotional responsiveness of human caregivers. The presence of his parents in his life was unpredictable and erratic. Leia also suffered from attachment deficits as a child. She was adopted by a royal family who had caretakers for her that were consistently switched out creating developmental trauma, with her only known home, Alderaan, destroyed in part by her biological father, Anakin Skywalker. Processing that fact really took a toll on her; I know because I saw her through all of it. We were best friends as children you see. As a result, Leia began to fear Ben, whose raw untamed power was being displayed as intermittent, destructive behaviors due to the influence of Snoke and Palpatine. This little boy became a reminder of her biological father who devastated her family and caused total destruction in the entire galaxy. So, she ran away from him. Han wasn’t much different. Except that when he was home, which wasn’t often, he did love and cherish Ben. It was Han that would take him to visit most of the galaxy’s planets or to visit his uncle Luke. But Han spent most of his life on that ship, with Chewie, never being responsible for anyone but himself. Han’s mother died in childbirth, along with his newborn sister that eventually did not survive. His father Jonas never got over it, pretty much drank himself to death, but not before completely giving up on Han, making him essentially an orphan. But I think the key vital error that Leia, Han, and even Luke… heck even us, as family friends… made is not telling him of Anakin Skywalker’s Dark Side persona, Darth Vader.” Dr. Kalonia shook her head and started to get teary-eyed. “To find out on HoloNet News that your grandfather was none other than Darth Vader was shocking enough, but to then feel as though your whole family thinks of you as Darth Vader 2.0 is an entirely different thing,” she continued. 

At this point, everyone in the room really started to feel terrible for Ben Solo, even Poe. Much to his own surprise. Rey had tears falling down her eyes, much of what Dr. Kalonia was saying are things she herself has felt back on Jakku. Zorii was almost emotionally overwrought, she clenched to Poe’s hand. Zorii’s own mother having almost killed her and Poe. Dr. Kalonia would continue, “And thus, he was shipped off to Luke. And that was traumatic on its own. Even children with absentee parents develop strong attachments to them, to be ripped away from his home…” Dr. Kalonia sighed deeply as tears flowed from her eyes, “I told Leia a hundred times over not to do that. She didn’t listen. Luke was a Jedi, not a parent. He needed parental figures in his life to nurture and care for him. Ben developed even more unhealthy attachments to his uncle. Luke would go on to notice the influence that Snoke and Palpatine had on his nephew but would incorrectly assume it was of his own volition. I just knew that wasn’t true! Yet again another family figure in Ben’s life to think of him as unredeemable. Yet again this notion of Darth Vader 2.0, and it was Luke who saved his father.” Dr. Kalonia couldn’t handle talking about it anymore. Just then, Rey would go on to confess, “That idea was cemented the instant he woke up to Luke lifting a lit lightsaber over him. Luke made a mistake and failed to recognize it in time,” Rey said through tear-filled eyes. Dr. Kalonia’s mouth dropped, “He did what?!?!” Her hand immediately covering her mouth. Poe asked, “What are you saying, Rey?” Finn and Zorii both asked, “Leia’s Luke?” Rey said, “Exactly what I said. Luke had seen glimpses of the Dark Side in him during his training, so one night he looked inside his mind,” Rey was cut off by Poe, “You mean like what Kylo Ren did to you and me?” Rey picked up where she left off, “Yes, similar… except Ben was sleeping. Luke saw the death of his sister, Leia at the hands of his nephew. Out of pure instinct, he drew his lightsaber and turned it on. Luke said he caught himself, but it was too late. It was right at that moment that Ben woke up to see his uncle, in his eyes, trying to murder him.” Zorii turned away, Poe knew why. She of all people knew the feelings that were involved when someone you loved like a parent, or in her case, her actual parent, tries to murder you. She wiped at her face and Poe gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I cannot believe that. I simply cannot! I’ve known Luke for a long, long time,” Dr. Kalonia muffled out, “I would have come to get him if someone had told us they were that worried about him. Jorsen and I would have come to get him!” 

She sighed deeply and leaned against the counter by the bed Zorii was at. She knew her late husband Jorsen would have allowed Ben to live with them. He had cherished the boy, as he did his own children. Zorii couldn’t take it anymore, she got up in her patient gown and made her way to the refresher nearby, locking herself in it. She was sobbing and sick to her stomach. Poe looked at Rey, almost in an apologetic manner. He started to follow, chasing after Zorii. Finn stood in silence for a while before saying, “I had no idea.” He looked to Rey. “Do you understand now? Ben never stood a chance. He was lost before he was ever really here. And I found him. And I am never going to let anyone do any more harm to him!” She stood up as Poe was making his way back to the medbay. Rey immediately turned to him, “Least of all, you, Poe Dameron!” She started to head for the exit. Finn would chase her, “Rey! Rey… come on.” Poe looked to Dr. Kalonia who was still crying. She felt as if she should have done so much more, but ultimately she had little control in the matter. All she could have done, which was counsel her friend Leia, she did. She looked to Poe, “Is he here?” Poe nodded yes and said, “Hiding in the _Falcon_ because so many people here would want his head on a spit,” he sighed just as Zorii came up behind him, her eyes swollen, and she was pale. “Then you make them understand, Poe!!! Are you a General here or not?” Zorii asked him, pushing a finger hard into his chest. “Zo’, I cannot just erase everything he’s done,” Poe said. Dr. Kalonia stood up straight and started for the exit towards the _Falcon_. She couldn’t save her own son from his fate at the hands of Snoke and Palpatine’s manipulation of a young man that had been tormented most of his life, but she could try to help her dear friend’s son recover from this detrimental fracturing of his mind.

## The Spice Crew

Poe looked to Zorii, “Zo’, there are consequences to his actions. Whether or not he was fully in control of them or not, the facts are facts. What am I supposed to do?” He cupped Zorii’s chin in his hand, she was trembling. Talking about all the damage that can be had at the hand of parents was just too much for her. Her own trauma in relation to her mother and a father she never knew had always laid under the surface. She had her own mental and emotional baggage to deal with. And now she was projecting it onto Poe because he was safe for her to do that too. She felt like leaving again! And now she wondered if that fight or flight response was all due to not ever really dealing with it. She tried to fight it, but she was losing. Poe looked at her, caught her looking at the door, “Oh no you don’t Zorii Wynn!” He grabbed her shoulders, “You’re not leaving me again, we’re going to work through this. Like it or not!” She looked to him, her lip quivering, and eyes threatening tears again, “Poe…” she whispered. “I know… I know. I am trying here, Zo’-bear. I need you in my life, do you hear me? Everything I am doing, everything I have done, has been for you, for us. I wanted you to be free, to live free with me, as my wife,” he said to her. “Oh Poe,” tears escaped her eyes, she buried her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her whispering to her, “I love you Zorii, most fervently.” She looked up to him, meeting his loving expression, “Then help Ben as you would me. I’ve never gone out of my way for anyone, except for you because believe it or not I do love you, but I am asking you to do that. Like I thought I had it bad, but after that,” she flicked her eyes to the medbay room she had been occupying and then back to him, “I don’t think I’ve ever met another person as damaged as he is and my mother tried to murder me!” Poe gave her a small smile, “Did you just admit to loving me?” Zorii slapped him, “Out of all that, that’s all you pick up on? Really?” Poe grabbed her and planted a kiss on her right in the hallway where everyone walking by could see. She resisted at first but then gave in… kissing him back. Some of the folks in the other medical bays cheered their General on. Vibbo and Vicii walked in just as they were in mid-smooch. “Well, it’s about time!” Vicii exclaimed, “I was really getting tired of dancing around it.” Vibbo couldn’t help himself, “Zorii and Poe, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G…” he teased. He would be so tormented for this later, but Poe didn’t much care because she was worth it. Zorii smiled, her cheeks flushed a deep red, “Poe Dameron, now everyone’s looking at us,” she said and buried her face back in his chest. “Zo’, I don’t care,” Poe said stroking her cheek. 

She separated from Poe, running to Vicii, and jumping on him hugging him. Vicii and Vibbo were twin brothers and had pretty much grown up with Zorii, they were like family to her. Most of the Spice Crew was. Vicii, “Wow, sis… hold up aren’t you hurt? Shouldn’t you be resting instead of canoodling handsome over there?” She smiled at him, “I wasn’t as hurt as you thought. I recover quickly.” Vibbo would chime in, “Especially when you got this Yavin Heartthrob keeping you all warm,” he said thumbing to Poe. Poe turned and said, “Alright, alright, everyone back to work… or healing or just getting better. Nothing to see here!” Everyone that had sort of halted for a minute got back to whatever they were doing. Poe went to hug Vibbo as Vicii put Zorii down, Poe hugged Vicii in turn, “How did we fare at Naboo?” Vicii replied, “We took a few casualties, of course, none of ours, just yours… but otherwise we took that son-of-a-bitch down.” Poe gave him a sarcastic look and said, “Har har, really funny. Those casualties are my people. How do you feel about being part of the Resistance?” Zorii shot him a look, “Look cowboy, just because you and I are tossing sheets off the bed doesn’t mean my crew is at your service.” Vibbo would join in and say, “To be honest Zorii, what else do we have to do right now with Hutt Space descending into madness? We might as well help. Especially if we get a salary!” Poe piped up, “You think I got unlimited credits laying around? No. But… I do have a job, one that won’t get my lady here shot at,” he thumbed to Zorii. “Jeez, one kiss and he gets all clingy,” she said. Vibbo said, “Sure thing sweet cheeks because 10 years being in love with someone isn’t long enough to get clingy.” Zorii smacked Vibbo, “It isn’t because I say it isn’t,” she turned to Poe, “So, lover, what’s the job and how much are you payin’?” Vicii would look to Zorii, “Woman, that outfit does nothing for your negotiating power, you know that? Get dressed!” Zorii stuck her tongue out at Vicii, “Fine, I’ll go get dressed! Wait did someone get my armor from the Pontas?” Poe pointed to the medbay room, “You think we’d let that happen?” Zorii kissed his cheek and made for the room drawing the curtains to change but leaving the door open. Vicii turned to Poe, “So, you looking to make an honest woman out of my Zo’-bear?” Poe grinned and answered, “Haven’t I always wanted to?” Vibbo nodded, “You think she would have gotten the hint.” 

Finn strolled back towards Poe, seeing him with the Spice Crew, he said, “If we don’t fix this with Rey, she will disappear with _‘you know who’,_ and we’ll never see her again. I’ll hold you personally responsible for that if that happens.” Poe replied sarcastically, “Just blame me for everything, per the usual.” Vibbo chuckled, “What else is new, Poe?” Poe sighed. Vicii asked, “What irks the young Jedi?” Finn looked to Poe, and Poe said, “Let’s move to my office shall we?” Just then Zorii came back with her tattered, dirty outfit on holding on to her helmet, “This just won’t do,” she pointed at the gaping hole in her mid-riff. “I think that’s pretty sexy if you ask me,” Poe said grinning. “No one asked you, dumbass.” Vibbo exclaimed, “Oh the joys of Poe and Zorii Dameron!” Zorii gave him a look, “Who the kriff said I would take his name?” Poe shook his head, “Stubborn ass,” he motioned for them to head to his office and the group followed. Zorii walking behind them, “I am going to take the cost of a new suit made out of your credit account, Poe.” Poe opened the door holding it for the group, “Ohhh because I was the one to tell you to get your ass handed to you in Nal Hutta? No way Jose!” Zorii would stroll through the door being last, she stopped and turned to him pecking him on the mouth, “I am expensive, just thought I’d warn you.” Poe smiled, “Oh I know. That helmet almost cost me my life.” She crossed through the doors and Poe followed behind her. “Like the view at least,” Zorii asked him. Finn got to Poe’s office and opened the door for Vicii and Vibbo, Vicii would go on to say, “Get a room you two, jeez.” Poe answered, “You’re alive, Zorii. That’s the only view I care about…” Zorii would scoff and stop at his door, “You mean to tell me all of this,” she motioned to herself up and down before continuing, “doesn’t matter to you?” Poe grinned walking into his office behind her, “Did I say that? If I did, I take it back.” He winked at her.

Finn pulled a chair for Zorii, who ignored it and went to sit in Poe’s chair putting her feet up like she owned the joint. Poe gave her a look and moved her feet off, “Okay, no… out,” he said, pulling her off the chair. He sat in it, but she protested and then sat on his lap. Vibbo said to him, “Just remember that you wanted this.” Poe sighed, “She is going to make my life hell, isn’t she?” Finn grinned, “It’s a woman’s job.” Zorii drew her blaster and pointed it at Finn jokingly, “Hey sweet chocolate, don’t make me hurt you.” Finn said, “You see.” Zorii re-sheathed her blaster and stuck her tongue out at Finn, “Meanie!” Poe got to business, “Okay, Zo’ you know about this but… Vibbo, Vicii. What if I told you that Kylo Ren is alive and well?” The twin brother's expressions changed and Vicii would say, “I say you’re either crazy, or we need to go lay some smackdown on his ass wherever he is. We cannot let that prick stay alive.” Zorii shot Poe and Finn a quick look. “Well, he is and now he’s on our side,” she said. Vicii would reply, “And I still say he needs to die, slowly and painfully.” Poe said, “See. I am almost with you on that… maybe not die, but certainly imprisoned and tried as a war criminal.” Vicii said, “Nope. That’s too good of a life for him. He is the deadliest Sith Lord to ever exist in our lifetimes.” Vibbo would say, “Well, if he is of good use somehow, then I say we use his ass for all its worth.” Zorii decided to state her case, “He saved my life, and Rey’s, and well everyone’s because he helped to kill Palpatine. Does that change your mind?” Vicii flinched at her statement, “Are you telling me you have a soft spot for this guy? Is that possible? I get he’s all dark, tall, and handsome, and all that, but he’s a mass murderer… uhhh Kijimi?” Zorii stood up from Poe’s lap, he let her have the floor. “No, Kylo Ren deserves nothing. But the man that is Ben Solo, son of Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo, deserves a lot more than he got in his short lifetime.” Vicii was visibly confused. Vibbo asked, “Who is Ben Solo?” Vicii turned to him and smacked him on the back of the head, “Same person idiot! You remember hearing about that, what 5-6 years ago? Maybe more… I can’t remember.” Vibbo said, “Oh, Ohhhhhhh,” it suddenly dawned on him, “Right! The general’s son is Kylo Ren. So, his name was Ben Solo? Are you telling me that someone as nice and gentle as Leia Organa gave birth to someone like that?” Zorii crossed her arms, “And Zeva Bliss gave birth to me, what of it?” Vibbo said, “You got a point.” Finn interjected, “Let me tell you what really went down,” he said as he paced back and forth slowly recounting the entire story of Ben Solo’s fall from grace into descending madness. Vibbo was the first one to reply, “Holy drukk… his uncle tried to murder him?” Vicii exclaimed in utter shock, “But I thought he was a Jedi… I mean wasn’t Luke Skywalker kind of a Jedi Legend?” Zorii said, “There is something I need to tell you guys that I haven’t told anyone… only Poe and now Rey know.” Poe shot Finn a look like don’t you say nothing recalling that he had in fact told his best friend this story. Zorii proceeded to tell Vicii and Vibbo the entire history of what happened between Zeva Bliss and Poe Dameron and herself. Vicii was fuming because it’s the first he heard of it, and Zeva has been dead for years to what they thought was a prison riot gone wrong, “She kriffin’ tried to KILL YOU ZO’?” Vibbo shouted in disbelief, “Wow… she took us in, she practically raised us.” Zorii said, “News flash, she gave two drukks about you or me for that matter; reality check: she needed a crew. How many times did she put us all in danger? A hundred? A thousand? Yeah, she wanted to be like the Hutt clan; ruthless, cutthroat, dangerous, and feared. That’s it, that’s all,” Zorii said as her eyes watered again. 

Vicii went to hug her, “I would have never picked her over you, Zo’. Why didn’t you tell us?” Vibbo put a hand on her shoulder, patting it a few times. “Why do you think, doofus?” Zorii asked Vicii. Vibbo answered, “The Code.” Zorii raised a finger to Vibbo, “Exactly!” Vicii looked to her, “You’re like our sister, Zo’. I mean we would have understood; kriff the damn code. I’ve been divorced twice, and I am still searching for someone to love.” Vibbo said, “Yup, unfortunately in all the wrong places.” Vicii looked to his brother, “Do I begrudge you all the boy toys you want?” Vibbo responded, “Well I am a whore, we all know this.” Zorii said, “Okay but here is the thing, I get Ben Solo in a deeply personal way. There I said it! I get the trauma he’s had to suffer, and the truth is none of you can. To be betrayed by the person that is supposed to love you the most… I get it!” Finn said, “I am with you Zorii. I may not have had a parent or uncle try to kill me, but… I do get how scary it could be to be indoctrinated into the First Order. They make you feel like it’s too late, no one loves you, there is no hope you will ever be forgiven or saved.” Zorii extended her hands towards Finn and then pointed at Poe, “See, someone gets it. So, I need you Poe Dameron, now that you’ve cracked me wide open and I am draining water from my eyeballs all the time, to go and talk to these people out there,” Zorii then pointed to where the Citizen’s Bay was, “on his behalf and give him a chance!” Poe looked at her, he had never seen her act this way. To tell Vicii and Vibbo about the events surrounding her mother’s death was big enough, now she was asking him to help Ben, “Fine, I’ll do what I can. Happy?” Zorii smiled, crossed her arms in pure satisfaction, and said, “Hmmpphh”. Finn took the opportunity and said, “And we need you to do whatever you can do, Zorii.” Zorii looked to Finn, “Is that right? And how much are you payin’?” Finn grinned. “Oh kriff, she’s got her negotiator outfit on,” Vibbo said.

Finn smiled and proceeded to tell her and the twin brothers about the biggest heist they could ever pull off, as long as they can get access to a clean First Order datapad. “Ohhh KRIFF! Are you serious?” Zorii went back towards Poe Dameron and slapped him thinking it was his idea because of how dangerous it could be. “It’s wasn’t my idea!” Poe exclaimed. Zorii asked, “Then who’s idea is it? Because I’ll slap them too, this serious drukk,” Poe answered rubbing his face, “Ben Solo’s. So, slap him.” Vicii flinched, “You must be joking!” Finn grinned from ear to ear, “I kid you not. And what we want to do with the majority of it is rebuild the Republic and the Jedi Order. Free the slaves that are taken at young ages to become stormtroopers; returning them to their parents when we can and giving the ones that unfortunately have no family, a home here, with the Resistance.” Poe smiled to Zorii, “I have to admit it’s a genius plan.” Zorii looked between all of them, “How much are we talking?” Finn looked to Poe and back to them, “Kylo Ren’s accounts alone have 734 trillion credits,” he said. Vibbo sat in the chair across from Poe, his mouth gaped open. Vicii drew a hand to his mouth, also gaped open. And Zorii fainted, which Finn was fast on his feet to catch. When Zorii came to, she was in Poe’s arms with the three other men surrounding her. She looked to Poe, “Do you know how many ships we could buy?” Poe smiled to her, “There she is.” 

Poe helped Zorii up and when she got to her feet, she started thinking, “Okay here is what I need, first… a new suit because when you’re going to steal trillions of credits from the First Order, you got to look good doing it.” Poe gave her a look, “Really?” Zorii said, “Yes, really. I need uniforms, First Order officer uniforms. Vicii, Vibbo, they’ll need stormtrooper uniforms and weapons. First Order officers don’t ever walk around alone, they usually have at least 2 guards… the more the better, more believable,” she looked to Finn. “Man,” Finn said to her, “why me?” Poe looked to Finn and back to Zorii, “Don’t look at me, because if he has to don the white suit, someone’s going to have to play General around here.” Zorii said, “But I need a pilot… and we need Babu, he can hack anything. So, even if we don’t get a clean datapad, he may just be able to clean one himself or at least make it untraceable.” Just then there was a knock at the door, “Come in,” Poe said. It was Maz Kanata. She came in and closed the door, “Boys, the… oh my, Zorii you look… alive,” she said. Zorii smiled, “Rey.” Finn added, “and Ben, together.” Maz smiled, “Ahhh, yes. The Force.” Zorii nodded. Vicii and Vibbo looked at each other, and Vibbo mouthed a silent, “Force?” Zorii looked to Vibbo, “Yes, Force Healing. Rey and Ben used their power to heal me completely,” she looked between Vibbo and Vicii, “remember the Lothal job in 27 ABY?” They both nodded, and Zorii unzipped her suit down to her waist and showed them both her back, where once she had a very visible scar down it. Vicii’s eyes about popped out of his head, and Vibbo’s mouth dropped to the floor, yet again. Vicii reached up in disbelief and touched her back, “It’s completely gone!” Maz smiled and said, “The Force.” As Vicii and Vibbo took a closer look, Maz looked to Poe and Finn, “The cooling chambers are nicely packed, and the troops were fed, followed by the citizens, we have about three days’ worth of stored food, thanks to Ben.” Finn smiled, “Excellent. Maz, where could we get a First Order datapad?” Maz wrinkled her nose, “Oh kid, that’s got to be in a core world, I’d say Coruscant. What kind of trouble you looking to get into?” Finn and Poe recounted the plan that Ben Solo had come up with to Maz Kanata and she would exclaim, “What a hoot! That boy, you got to love him. When he hates you, he really hates you!” Poe couldn’t help himself, “You got that right.” Zorii would go on to ask her how to attain some First Order uniforms and stormtrooper uniforms and weapons. Maz answered her, “Canto Bight, I got a contact there named W’rith Ba’al. He is a director at the armory that manufactures those.” Maz and Zorii grinned at each other. The two of them would go on to forge a masterful plan on how to get a First Order datapad from Coruscant.

## Dr. Harter Kalonia

Rey made it out to the _Falcon_ where she got on board and then closed the ramp. She turned on the comms system from the helm and then went to Han’s master cabin, where she knew Ben was. When she entered it was clear he had been crying, he felt her presence before she ever stepped foot in the ship. He looked at her, as she closed the door and sat next to him. She intertwined her right hand with his left, he let her. “I had no idea that Marty had become a pilot and was at Crait,” he said to her. “I figured as much, tell me about him,” Rey said looking at him. “Not much to tell, when I was little we were often together. My mother would sometimes leave me at the Kalonia’s house, so we played a lot. Built model spaceships together,” he said raising her hand to his lips, “Harter was a great mom, and secretly I would daydream that she was my mother and Marty was my older brother.” Rey put her head on his shoulder, “She talked about you, told us a lot. But I really want to hear from you, Ben. I want to know all of it, not because we share this special bond and I could see it for myself, or because I heard it from someone else, but because you wanted to tell me yourself.” 

The comms system beeped, “Falcon Wing, come in.” It was Dr. Kalonia. Rey stood up and went to the comms module by the door of the master cabin, “Falcon Wing here,” she replied. “Let me in, I am at the door,” Dr. Kalonia said. Rey looked to Ben, Ben said, “I really cannot right now.” Rey said, “Okay I will tell her.” She got up and went to the ramp, she lowered it and Dr. Kalonia strolled up before she had a chance to say anything, “Where is he?” She demanded. “Hart, he’s not really in the mood right now, we’re literally 5 days from the events of Exegol and---” Dr. Kalonia cut her off-putting a hand to up to her, “I know you love him, and want to protect him, but I helped to bring him into this world, Rey. Where is he?!?” Before she could speak again, the door to the cabin opened. When Dr. Kalonia turned around, she saw a man where once a boy had stood and her heart couldn’t take it. She looked at him up and down, befuddled by just how much he had grown up, she exclaimed, “Ben!” And she ran to him throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly and her eyes gave way to tears. Ben was almost afraid to hug her back, he had killed her son, someone he thought of as a cousin. “Aunt…” was all he could stifle out of his mouth before he closed his eyes and finally hugged her back; those damn tears would come again. Rey leaned against the hallway looking at him, crying with him now. “Shhh, shhh,” she said tenderly before pulling away from him to look him in the face placing both hands on his shoulders lovingly, “Are you okay?” She took a mediscan unit out of her pocket to check on him. “No, no… not needed,” he managed to say, “I am fine.” She looked at him giving him a look of concern, “Ben, you were held in this incredible situation for the better part of 15 years,” she said to him. Ben put his hands on the mediscan unit, pushing it down. “My body is fine, my mind is a whole other problem,” he said to her. “I know, I know… I am here to help you,” she said putting away the handheld device and wrapping her arms around him again. He hugged her again, “Hart, Marty…” he said to her through sobs. “Shhhh, that’s not your fault. I never thought it to be, not for one minute. I knew that wasn’t really you. Ben, listen to me. You are part of our family, period. Evie, remember little Evie, she’s here. An engineer with us, so you have family here,” she said to him through a soft, gentle smile. The capacity for humans to forgive the deepest of offenses was astonishing to Rey. She thought to herself that this was what she would dedicate the rest of her life to protect and preserve. This right here. Dr. Kalonia cupped his chin, he looked at her through tear-filled eyes and said, “Uncle Jor?” She smiled and sighed, her eyes letting him know gently. “Killed doing what he loved the most, flying in an X-wing.” Ben would point to himself, as if asking, “because of me?” Dr. Kalonia would shake her head, “No, no… because of Snoke,” she said flatly. Ben would break down again. And Dr. Kalonia would hug him again. To Rey, she knew that this journey would be heart-wrenching for him, but she was ready to help him through it. Dr. Kalonia looked to Rey, opening one arm to her. Rey moved towards the doctor, whose face was happy and full of warmth, she hugged her and Ben all at the same time. “We’ll help you, Ben. I promise you,” Dr. Kalonia said. 

The three of them would go to sit at the holochess table, and Dr. Kalonia would tell him everything she had said to the others. She wanted to clarify how this all could be explained away medically and what she thought he could do to heal that cracked psyche of his. “Make no mistake about it, Ben, this is going to take a long time, years… decades maybe, but there is a way back. Don’t give up hope!” Ben asked her, “Does Evelynn know?” She smiled, “She does, but she’s not unlike her mother. She understands things that most wouldn’t.” Ben asked her, “You think anyone would?” Dr. Kalonia would go on to say, “I cannot lie to you, there will always be those that can’t, but that doesn’t mean we need to focus on them, let’s focus on those that do. Where are you staying?” She asked. “Tatooine,” Rey answered. “I will come to see you, as often as I can, okay?” She smiled, grabbing Ben’s hand, and squeezing it reassuringly. “I think I’ll let you kids get loaded up with supplies, and take off,” Dr. Kalonia said as she made her way to her feet. Ben followed her, and the two would hug one last time. “You’re home now, my darling. And in great company,” she said as her eyes caught Rey, they smiled at each other.


	10. Chapter 9: Ready, Set, Heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chewbacca struggles with forgiveness, but Rey helps him see that Han and Leia would want him to help their son. Ben will need all the help he could get to win over the favor of Rey’s family and the Resistance. 
> 
> The Spice Crew enlists the help of Rose Tico and Maz Kanata. They head to Canto Bight to see if they can get a hold of Maz’s contact for First Order uniforms and weapons. Meanwhile, Vicii and Vibbo head to speak with the former director of the Imperial Department of Military Research facilities. If they can’t get what they need in Canto Bight, they had plan B. 
> 
> The Jedi scattered across the galaxy that went into hiding after Order 66, make contact with Rey and Ben. One such Jedi is none other than the famous Cal Kestis, who is now a husband and grandfather, married to the Nightsister, Merrin.

## Chewbacca

Ben returned to his dad’s quarters until he could get back out to the cockpit, which would be a little while as Rey has to ensure the ship was loaded up with supplies. Rey walked down the ramp and then raised and locked it. When she turned around, she saw Chewie standing there with a sad face. She sighed and went to him, she hugged him. “Ahc acwo waooahwhrr ooorraro?” _{Is he doing okay?}_ the friendly Wookie would ask. “He’s okay, Harter just visited and told him she would help him get through it. And of course, I will too. Harter explained to him that he was a prisoner of war, he was basically kidnapped and raised by his captors. And we’re not saying his name too loudly around these parts, just _‘you know who’_. People are trickling in by the hundreds, Finn says,” Rey said to sort of change the subject. Of all the people in Ben’s life, Chewie would be the one to most remind him of the seemingly few happy moments, which were with Han and the Wookie. “Ahao'c whooao woracro wwoorc scwo, woahaoacworc. rooohu acrahowo whoo ahwawora acoooh schuoaac ah anoohowowa aoacraao anahaoaoanwo rhooro.” _{It’s not easy for me, either. You have no idea how much I loved that little boy.}_ Chewie said, he was still hugging Rey. He would continue, “Ah rasc ahscakrcwoccwowa ohahaoac ohacraao akoowo rawhwa wwahwhwh acrahowo waoowhwo coo wwrarc wwoorc raanan ooww aoacwocwo akwoooakanwo.” _{I am impressed with what Poe and Finn have done so far for all of these people.}_ Chewie unwrapped from hugging on Rey, he looked at her face. Rey would catch the Wookie let out a single tear, which was rare for them. She knew it was due to Ben. “He’s still that little boy, Chewie. He was captured and tortured to believe that his parents were the enemy, and maybe they didn’t do a good job as parents, but they loved him. He is going to need you at some point, you know. You’re the closest thing to a father he would have now,” Rey told him. “Ah shhucao waoowh'ao orwhoooh ahww ah oarawh, anahaoaoanwo caorarc. acrawh ohrac ra rhrcooaoacworc aooo scwo, anwoahra ohrac scro wwahrccao anahaoaoanwo caorarc.” _{I just don't know if I can, little star. Han was a brother to me; Leia was my first little star.}_ Chewie replied to her with so much sadness that Rey felt it coming off of him. Rey said with pleading eyes, “What do you think Han and Leia would want you to do?” She paused looking at him for a while; the Wookie was mulling it over but deep down he knew the answer. 

“Let’s find BB-8 and see if he got all the things we need to take with us on the _Falcon_ ,” she finally said as Maz Kanata rolled up on her old Maz-sized speeder “Kid! You’re still here?” Maz said, stopping and blowing a kiss to Chewie, “Is _‘you know who’_ still here? I got a little something for him. He’ll be tickled pink about it. Put a tiny bit on that sea serpent and broil it --- he knows --- and it will be extra delicious. Ohhh and here, some freshly made bread.” Maz dug into the small crate she strapped to her speeder and handed Rey some of her famous homemade bread, freshly made. She directed some of the other people under her charge towards an area filling up fast with a batch of late-night arrivals; these folks were from Naboo. Rey smiled, taking the bread, and sniffing it. Ben would have to fight her for this! “These rolls smell delicious, Maz!” Maz turned around and handed her two little bags and said, “This is Mantellian Pepper, and this right here is none other than, Starblossom Sweet Spice.” Chewie roared in surprise, “Acoooh waahwa rooohu rrwoao aoacraao?” _{How did you get that?}_ He hadn’t heard of Starblossom anything after the destruction of Alderaan. Maz said, “I have my ways, boyfriend,” she looked to the Wookie briefly before returning to Rey, “be very sparse with it. That teaspoon alone is worth a cool 100,000 credits!” Rey looked at it curiously before asking, “What is it?” Maz rolled her eyes, “Child, I have got to teach you about the worlds. Starblossom is a fruit that grew in Alderaan, Leia’s homeworld that the Empire destroyed. She had a nice reserve of it and would ask me to cook something for her with it just for her when this old ape here, Han, and _‘you know who’_ would accompany her to my castle. The spice will give it a sweet flavor… he’ll know what to do with it, if I taught him anything.” Rey smiled, tucking the spices securely into her belt’s inside pocket, “Super rare spice, got it,” she said. “Ooorraro, rooohu'rcwo rrooahwhrr aooo acrahowo aooo oaooooor scwo cooscwoaoacahwhrr ohahaoac aoacraao, scrauf. ah'anan waoo rawhroaoacahwhrr!” _{Okay, you're going to have to cook me something with that, Maz. I'll do anything!}_ Chewie said to Maz. Maz turned to her favorite Wookie and said, “Don’t tease an old lady, you hunk… now if you want a piece of this, be nice to _‘you know who’_ and I may consider that offer.” Just then BB-8 rolled up to the group and gave Rey a few beeps as if to say, “got everything we need ready to load”. She bent down and rubbed both of his sides and the droid replied in happy beeps. He loved Rey. “Ah ohahanan acwoanak rooohu akraoaor huak aoacwo wwraanoaoowh, rcworo.” _{I will help you pack up the Falcon, Rey.}_ Chewie said to Rey. Maz looked to Rey motioning to Chewie, “You see what a tiny bit of Starblossom Sweet Spice will do to anyone?” She smiled at the young Jedi, “Harter said she would be coming to Tatooine in a few days, I’ll be coming with her, tell _‘you know who’_. Okay, big hug Rey… going to go feed the late-night influx of refugees from Naboo.” Rey bent down and did as told, she hugged Maz tightly. “I’ll let him know,” she said.

Chewie followed BB-8 as Rey moved back towards the _Falcon_ and inserted the keycard to unlock it; she lowered the ramp. She went to Han’s room, the door opened, and she found Ben had taken one of the Jedi texts from the drawer where she kept them and was studying it; she smiled. He looked at her and said, “I heard what you say to Unc… err Chewie.” Rey sat by him, “Give him some time, okay? He loves you.” Ben looked at her with a look like he didn’t believe her. “You’ll see,” she said staring at the page he had open. He followed her gaze, “This speaks to creating a Force Bond with your padawan.” He pointed to the journal, “it’s in this old journal.” She said, “Are you calling me your padawan?” She smiled at him. “No, my equal,” he said and smiled back. “Chewie is helping to load the _Falcon_ ,” she said to him. “I’ll stay back here,” he said. She punched him in the arm playfully smacking her teeth, “NO! You’re going to go out there and help us,” she stared at him. “I’d really rather not,” he said. “Oh, you’re funny, you think it’s a request. How cute! I am not asking,” Rey said with a very smug smile. “And now I serve a new master?” Ben chuckled at her. “If by master, you mean girlfriend, then yes,” she said as she naughtily knocked his shoulder with her own. BB-8 rolled up the ramp and beeped loudly, “That’s BB-8, he wants you,” Rey said to him. Ben laughed, “Oh, I am so sure.” 

He put the book down on the double bunk they were sitting in and went to stand up. He took a deep breath in and let it out hard preparing himself for seeing his Uncle Chewie again; his rejection earlier by the lake had almost killed him. When Rey opened the door, Chewie was already in the main hold setting things down on the holochess table and opening the grated hatch to the lower corridors, she walked out to the Wookie and Ben followed behind her. Chewie felt him and he knew him well enough to know that he was wounded by how he had treated Ben earlier in the day, he turned around. Chewie and Ben would lock eyes and Chewie said, “Rooohu'howo rrrcooohwh coo aoraanan.” _{You've grown so tall.}_ Ben couldn’t hold it together, and yet again broke down. Something told him there would be a lot of that for months to come. Rey wrapped an arm around his waist, laying her head on his chest. “Rawhwa rooohu whwowowa ra acraahrcoahuao.” _{And you need a haircut.}_ The Wookie kept it together for Ben’s sake. It wouldn’t help either of them if they both broke down and cried. He handed Ben a box of supplies, “Rroo oowh, akhuao aoacahc raohraro. rooohu orwhoooh ohacworcwo.” _{Go on, put this away. You know where.}_ Chewie said to him. Rey smiled to Chewie, thankful for his demeanor with Ben now in contrast to before. She unwrapped from Ben and went outside where BB-8 was going through his checklist and the items in the dolly he had dragged over to the ramp. Ben wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked to Chewie, taking the box; he could only muster a soft, “Thank you.” Ben got busy and dropped into the lower corridors, and of course, he knew where things needed to go. He saw that the box contained plumbing parts and more tools to help get his uncle Luke’s estate to a better operational state. Rey brought in another box, “Chewie, what is all this stuff?” Rey asked as she walked towards him. “Toraaoooooahwhwo, roworaac? aoacraao akanraoawo acracwh'ao rhwowowh hucwowa ahwh ra anoowhrr aoahscwo. ahao ohahanan aoraorwo ra ohacahanwo aooo rrwoao ahao ooakworcraaoahoowhraan rarrraahwh. aoacahc cacoohuanwa acwoanak.” _{Tatooine, yeah? That place hasn't been used in a long time. It will take a while to get it operational again. This should help.}_ Chewie replied. Rey smiled, she had little idea about how to get an actual dwelling running; she never had a fully functional one, “I sure hope Ben knows what to do with all of this,” she said. “Ooww oaoohurccwo, acwo waoowoc! ah aorahurracao acahsc scrocwoanww.” _{Of course, he does! I taught him myself.}_ Chewie said as Ben made his way up from the lower corridors. Rey handed Ben the box, he looked inside it. “Perfect, just what we need,” he said. “Waoo ah wohoworc waahcraakakooahwhao, orahwa?” _{Do I ever disappoint, kid?}_ Chewie said to Ben, giving him a small smile. Rey thought that was a small gift to Ben. **_“It is.”_** He sent over their bond. Ben said, “No, not ever.” He ducked below again, putting things where they belong. “Ah'anan rroo woscakaoro aoacwo rrrcraro aorawhorc rawhwa rcwowwahanan aoacwo ohraaoworc rcwocworchoooahrc.” _{I'll go empty the gray tanks and refill the water reservoir.}_ Chewie said to Rey. “Chewie,” Rey said in almost a whisper, “thank you.” Chewie patted her shoulder and whispered back to her, “Rooohu'rcwo rcahrracao. acrawh rawhwa anwoahra ohoohuanwa ohrawhao scwo aooo anoohowo acahsc wwoorc aoacwosc.” _{You're right. Han and Leia would want me to take care of him.}_ Chewie exited the ramp to get busy on the connections that must be made to fill up the water reservoir and empty the gray tanks. Rey smiled following him out to grab more boxes. She and Ben got through all the boxes of supplies, while the Wookie finished up outside. Chewie would disconnect all the hoses and connections that had been needed to finish the task at hand. Rey walked out there, she hugged Chewie thanking him for his help. BB-8 would beep at the Wookie a few happy beeps as if to say, “we make a good team”. Chewie roared softly, “Ohwo waoo, rcoohuwhwaahwo.” _{We do, roundie.}_ He said to the little droid as he rolled up the ramp, then turned to Rey, “Rhwo oararcwowwhuan, ohrarcc rarcwo wokakanoowaahwhrr wohoworcroohacworcwo. ooac, rawhwa anwoao Bwowh warcahhowo.” _{Be careful, wars are exploding everywhere. Oh, and let Ben drive.}_ He said to her. She flinched and said, “Is my flying that bad?” Chewie roared at her, “Whoo, rhhuao acwo'c rhwoaoaoworc.” _{No, but he's better.}_ Rey would say, “Hmmm, you might be right about that, but let’s not tell him that.” She said and winked to him as she climbed up the ramp, meeting Ben’s eyes. He smiled at her as he closed the ramp and locked it, “He told you I was better, right?” Rey shook her head, “Don’t let that go to your head, mister.” Ben went back to the master cabin, picking up the text he had set down before. Rey moved to the cockpit and BB-8 rolled over to help her start up the _Falcon_. He would beep at her as if to say, “if you asked me, I’d say you’re better”. Rey smiled at her companion, “Thanks, BB-8! At least someone appreciates my piloting skills around here.” The _Falcon_ roared to life and she took off from the platform, as she looked she saw Maz and Chewie standing together waving at her. She loved these people. If she could have picked a family for herself, this would have been it. Ben said through their bond, **_“If they are important to you, they are important to me.”_** Rey smiled as she got out of the atmosphere of Crait proper and into open space, she stopped the _Falcon_ setting it to hover. Ben came out with the text he had been reading in hand, he handed it to her as she moved from the captain’s chair to the co-pilot’s chair. She took it from him. “You didn’t have to move, I never said Uncle Chewie was right,” he said to her. She laughed, “Ohhh, and let you get ahead of me in reading? Never!” She opened the book and Ben dropped into the captain’s chair, “Okay, but for the record, you’re an exceptional pilot and I trust you completely.” Rey looked to him, “I know. As I do you.” Ben reached a hand out to her; she placed her hand in his without any hesitation and he brought it up to his lips to kiss it softly. Then he let it go, engaging full manual drive on the _Falcon_ and heading towards the Triellus Trade Run. Rey prepped the hyperdrive thrusters and after a few minutes, “Ready.” Ben engaged lightspeed and disappeared into the TTR heading towards Tatooine.

## Leave It to Rose

Rose was in the Engineer’s Cove and she was on hologram with Sgt. Evelynn Kalonia back on Ajan Kloss going over the latest inventory numbers when Finn walked into the office that Rose shared with several other engineers. He leaned over her shoulder, “Oh, hey Evie. How are you?” Finn said with a smile. Rose sighed, “You must want something.” She said to him. “From you, always,” he said to her. Evie rolled her eyes, “Get a room, really… anyways, hi Finn. Tell my mother to check her messages, please,” she said to Finn. Finn replied, “Will do; can I steal her away?” Finn pointed to Rose. “If you must,” Evie said to Finn and then looked to Rose, “we’ll sync up later.”

Rose nodded and closed the commlink, she spun her chair to face Finn, “So, what do you need?” Finn looked at her, “we need your help on a covert operation.” Rose’s blank expression would see the smallest hint of intrigue. She rose from the task chair and said, “I supposed Poe is involved, yes?” She crossed her arms and looked to him. “Isn’t he always?” Finn retorted. “Unfortunately. Is he in a pisser of a mood or has he had time to calm down? I hear that he’s been at Zorii’s side since she got here,” she asked. “Well, about that… Zorii is feeling a lot better now that Rey visited her,” he said raising his eyebrows at her twice in an expressive manner. Rose stared at him confused and asked, “What is that? This motion… what… what are you trying to say?” Finn sighed rolling his eyes, “Rey…” he paused and lowered his voice to a whisper, “healed her.” Rose shook her head and flinched asking, “What does that mean?” Finn came even closer to her right ear, which flustered the senior engineer, and whispered, “She used the Force to completely heal Zorii; not a scratch on her.” He stayed close to her; the hint of soft lavender soap filling his senses. She turned her head to him and then quickly realized how close they were. She took a few steps back from him. “Is that something she can do now?” she asked. He stayed where he had been, looking at her, “Apparently so. Anyways, I’ll need you to come to my office so we can talk about this new request I have for you,” he said to her. Immediately Rose felt an ire at the thought of being alone with him and asked, “Is Poe joining us?” Finn answered, “Nope, he’s with Maz doing the intake on new refugees; the current count is 12,733. We’re quickly running out of space.” Rose fidgeted with her Resistance uniform’s pins to try to hide the discomfort she felt and added, “Well, I do have to come back here as soon as possible because we’re trying to work on adjoining this camp into the old Rebellion base.” She started to walk towards the exit doors of Engineer’s Cove and Finn followed her. When she got to Finn’s office she saw through the window in the door that she wouldn’t have to be alone with Finn as Zorii and two other men were waiting there; she recognized them to be part of Zorii’s crew, but she had not yet met them.

A little tiny creature, a humanoid came up behind her, “Heluu duur!” Babu Frik motioned towards Finn. Finn knew the little guy from visiting Kijimi when they had to crack C3-PO’s memory banks to be able to decipher the ancient Sith writing that had been imprinted on the ceremonial dagger. That dagger had led Rey to the Sith Wayfinder on Kef Bir almost one week ago, which held the location of Exegol. Finn bent down and extended a hand saying to him, “Now Babu, you’re too little of a guy to be wandering the halls by yourself, you’ll get trampled.” Babu climbed up to his shoulder and said, “Me cee Zo’, me runn.” Finn nodded and said, “Figured as much, she’s all better now.” He opened the door and motioned for Rose to enter, “After you,” he said as he walked in behind her. Babu would exclaim, “Zo’ arr joo okey?” Little Babu would move from Finn’s shoulder jumping towards Zorii, who caught him and let him climb up to her shoulder. Rose looked at her and smiled, “So glad you’re okay, Poe would not shut up about you being out there in this enigma that is a post-enslaved galaxy. You know, you think you’re doing the right thing, and BOOM, utter chaos. And not just the Hutts vs. the Digans but we’ve gotten reports that Coruscant is rioting all over after they took out the First Order, downright slaughtered them really. And all those people are now fighting each other in gang wars and looting everything all over. Like, people are dying in the slums of Coruscant.,” Rose said as she sat down, she saw Finn’s basket of fruit at the center of the small conference table that was in his office. She took an apple and bit into it. Zorii looked at her, “If you were First Order, where would you go?” She asked Rose. Rose thought about that chewing her apple and then said, “Follow the money. Coruscant sure, but right now it wouldn’t be the safest place for anyone in the First Order. I’d say Muunilinst --- more specifically the High Port in Harnaidan. Why do you ask?” Rose bit into her apple once more. Zorii shot Finn a look then answered turning back to Rose, “We’re breaking into the First Order’s bank accounts.” Rose stopped chewing and looked at Finn; anger, the emotion written on her face.

“That’s extremely dangerous, on any planet. The InterGalactic Banking Clan has some of the most sophisticated intrusion alert and detection systems in the entire galaxy. All their connection points use quantum-spread bio-hexacrypt encryption, if you thought breaking into the _Supremacy_ was hard… this is basically impossible. And not to mention a suicide mission! So ummm no, you’re not doing this Finn!” She stood up. Zorii stood in between Rose and Finn, “Slow down toots, we’re not trying to break into anything from scratch,” she looked back to Finn and then back to Rose, “despite what he says. But we do have a legitimate way in.” Rose looked from Finn to Zorii, then to Babu on her shoulder. “It’s a mee,” he said. Zorii pointed to her shoulder and then added, “And the encryption codes, and biometrics, from none other than Kylo Ren himself.” 

Rose looked at everyone in the room, “As in Ben Solo? And Rey knows of this? I mean, that means they’ll know he’s, you know, alive… and has defected. That will put them both in danger.” Finn pipped up, “I know that you’re concerned for Rey, more than Ben Solo, but we will keep them safe.” Rose shook her head in disagreement, “And how are you going to do that without an army? None of them know yet that he is alive and has defected to our side, so how are they going to protect him, and in turn Rey?” Finn said, “We will have to tell them, but right now this is the most effective way to really hinder the re-emergence of the First Order because they have unlimited funds.” Zorii chimed in and said, “His account alone has 734 trillion credits, not to mention he has access to most if not all of their accounts, including their military fund,” she crossed her arms. Rose sat there, looking from Finn to Zorii, rinse and repeat. “You should have opened up with that,” Rose finally said biting into her apple. Zorii smiled, a bit proud of the little lady in front of her. She even thought to herself, Rose would have made a great part of the Spice Runners of Kijimi. She started to tell Rose of the plan and introduced her to Vicii and Vibbo. They got to work laying out all the specifics.

## Rarified Cracking

Rose finished her apple, tossing it into the garbage and listening to Zorii. “And where are we going to get First Order Officer uniforms, armor, and weapons?” Rose asked. Zorii told her that Maz has a contact on Canto Bight that is the director of the armory where the First Order manufactures those items. “Canto Bight is closed down for renovations,” Rose reminded them of this fact as her eyes flicked to Finn, “we tore that town all up last time we were there.” Finn said, “It’s still closed down?” Rose proudly answered, “Yup.” Zorii turned to Vicii, “what about Everi Chalis?” Vicii responded, “Oooufff, that’s probably going to be a hell of a sell, she wants nothing to do with the Resistance if it’s even remotely concerned in continuing to pursue the same ideals as the Rebellion.” Rose would ask, “Is that the former head of the Imperial Department of Military Research that ended up defecting to the Rebellion?” Vibbo would answer, “Yep and she wants nothing to do with this war.” Vicii would add, “but she knows how to get into Gilvaanen undetected and has gotten us access on more than one occasion.” Zorii said, “Options are good. Could we gain access to a datapad in Gilvaanen?” Rose would answer, “No, no military unit has devices that would connect to the Galactic Bank’s systems and that’s on purpose. You need a heavily legitimate trade-centric town, and I am afraid that Muunilinst is your best bet that would still be largely sympathizing with the First Order to make it safe to be openly seen there in uniforms.” Zorii would say, “then Muunilinst it is. But let’s get those uniforms!” Vicii said, “Okay let me and Vibbo get out to the planet of Crucival, where Chalis is, and talk to her about helping us. We have a somewhat good relationship with her.” Zorii said, “Perfect.”

“Me go blank blank, dat pak,” Babu Frik said and Zorii translated, “True, even if we can get access to a legitimate First Order Data Pad, we would have to clean it. It needs to be wiped free of its tracing software. That’s where Babu comes in.” Rose said, “So he’ll have to go with us.” Finn said, “no, Rose I need you to stay here and help Poe. They’re overwhelmed here and need more help with as many refugees as we’re getting every day since Exegol.” Rose moved in closer to Finn, “If you think I am going to let you do this by yourself, you’ve got another thing coming.” Zorii chimed in, “Then four stormtroopers accompany me.” Rose said, “wait with him on your shoulder? I mean Anzellan are known to be hackers! How are we going to pull that off?” Babu looked to her and laughed, “mee cee smole, me hides.” Vibbo would say, “Never underestimate the stealth power of an Anzellan.” 

Rose would think more on this, “The Galactic Banking systems have a 6-minute refresh timer on their bio- hexacrypt encryption codes, so you’ll have less than that to scrub it, make the transactions, and get out.” Zorii said, “Babu, we’ll need you to get the systems we access scrubbed in just a few minutes to give us time to run the transactions. Can you do it?” Babu smiled and confidently said, “me cee nides lez den tree,” holding up three fingers. “That leaves us less than 3 minutes to make these transactions. We need a script chip that can house biometric info and can execute the transactions in seconds to leave us enough time to get out. How many accounts are we trying to access?” Rose asked. Finn got his commlink out, “I’ll find out from the source.” Babu Frik said, “Ohhhh, screep chip, isa veri hard ta git.” Finn said, “Maz will code us one and we can record the biometrics from Ben Solo.” Rose added, “It needs to be compatible with the Galactic Bank systems; can she do that?” Finn nodded, “Yes, she can.” Babu said, “harr, isa good no?” Rose smiled.

Vicii and Vibbo got going, it would take them a bit to get to Crucival. Zorii said, “Be careful! Rose and I can head out to Canto Bight. Should we take Maz with us?” Finn answered, “I’d rather you not, she’s kinda running this joint… but ask her. I’ll stay and contact Ben Solo and Rey and get more specifics around these accounts. Zorii nodded, “Rose, ready?” Rose turned to Finn, “Finn, in protecting him, we are protecting her. But at some point we need to come clean with all the Commanders of the Resistance and get them all on board with this plan to finally crush the First Order and how much a part of it he was. We cannot lose Rey to infighting between us on this point.” Finn nodded, “That’s very clear; she’s in love with him. Like fully. No questions or hesitations or trepidations on that. I felt it in her.” Rose looked at his eyes like they were speaking to her about their own feelings and not that of Ben Solo and Rey. Zorii would go on to add, “And he loves her, totally and completely. They will not separate. If we can’t them to show clemency to him, she will go on the run with him. I know I would for the man I love.” Finn chuckled still looking at Rose and said, “Because Poe Dameron is worth it.” Zorii smiled, “And to her, Ben Solo is worth it.” Finn sighed and said, “I need him to help me on this. You have to talk to him, Zorii.” Zorii looked between all of them, including Babu, and said, “I know how to get Poe to do what I want him to.” Babu would say, “Ohh, cee dus, yez.” Rose, Zorii, and Babu, who was perched on Zorii’s shoulder, would move to find Maz in the Citizen’s Bay area of the temporary base.

## Jedi In Hiding

Finn hailed the Falcon from his office, “Falcon Wing come in, Traitor One here. I need Traitor Two, over.” Rey saw the incoming hail and put it through, she slowly turned to Ben, “Traitor Two?” Ben chuckled and turned the comm system in, “Traitor One, two here.” Finn said, “Oh good, so we have a plan on how we can effectively clean out the First Order’s bank accounts, but we’re going to have less than a 3-minute window to make all the transfers. Maz is going to code us a script chip with your biometric information and we’re taking a team to the High Port Space Center in Muunilinst to access the systems directly.” Ben thought that over, “Muunilinst will be crawling with First Order and their sympathizers, no one wanted the First Order to take over the galaxy more than the Muuns, as they could only profit from it. How are you going to fly under the radar? And Maz can do that?” Finn chuckled, “What else? Using Stormtrooper uniforms, weapons, and Officer uniforms to blend in. And Maz can do anything.” 

Ben looked over to Rey and then said, “They’d be under the First Order’s contingency plans, so you’d need at least 6 troopers to every officer, Finn.” Rey looked at him, “Who is going to go to Muunilinst?” Finn answered, “Zorii, Vicii, his brother Vibbo, Rose, and me… and oh Babu Frik because we need a hacker to even get to use the script chip. Chewie and Maz will pilot; I’ll get us a First Order transport.” Ben thought for a bit, “You need us, then.” Finn said, “No, Ben. If you’re even remotely recognized… it would put both you and Rey in danger. You two are the last of the Jedi; we can’t risk that.” Rey said, “You need humans, the First Order only deals in humans. Are you hiding Babu? What about Poe? or Kay?” Finn answered, “We’re so swamped here at the base, we need to keep a general here. So, if I go, Poe stays or vice versa. But let’s just say I may have some experience wearing that uniform.” Ben said, “Makes sense,” he looked to Rey, “and we’re coming with you.” 

Rey smiled because Ben knew she’d want to go to keep her friends safe, she’d go on to add, “and how are we getting these uniforms and weapons?” Finn replied, “We have two options; we find Maz’s contact in Canto Bight or the Spice Crew has a contact in the planet of Crucival.” Ben said, “And how long do we have?” Finn answered him, “Twenty-four hours before we get confirmation on how we’re going to get the uniforms and weapons we need.” Rey said, “Good because we have a lot to do in Tatooine. Can Maz have this done by then?” Finn stated once again, “Like I said, Maz can do anything.” Ben said, “So if the 6 of us are in trooper uniforms, that should be sufficient to cover my identity from open view.” Rey asked, “Can we hide our lightsabers in those things?” Finn answered, “They are surprisingly spacious, so yes.” Rey said, “Perfect.” Ben nodded towards the front, “this is our stop.”

Rey said to Finn, “We need to plan out how we’re going to use these funds, too.” Ben said, “If we have less than 3 minutes, we may not be able to completely clean them out, but I will list all that I can starting with the First Order High Command and the First Order Military, which have the biggest amounts along with my personal account.” Finn asked him, “So, how much is that? You said 734 trillion in your personal account, right?” Ben nodded and said, “Yes, and just those two First Order accounts, you’re looking at over a decillion easy.” Finn flinched, “What’s a decillion?” Ben chuckled, “A lot. Think of a 1 with thirty-three zeros after it.” Finn fell silent.

Ben would break the silence, “We will want to find a way to put out a plea to any surviving family of the Senators of the New Republic; my thought is through HoloNet News. I think that will be the time for me to come forth.” Rey looked to him, “Ugh…” Finn said, “Is that absolutely necessary?” Ben said, “I can’t say hiding forever,” as he jumped out of hyperspace, facing the planet of Tatooine. Rey said, “We’re here, well at Luke’s… or rather I guess, Ben’s.” Ben looked to her, “Ours.” She smiled at him and said, “Not if you’re going to be an interim senator.” Finn asked, “Where would we even form a government now?” The _Falcon_ broke the atmosphere of Tatooine, the night was lit up because of the moons that provided such light; a stark contrast to Crait. Ben said, “We could take it back to Chandrila, where I was born.” Finn rubbed his chin; in the corner of his eye he saw Poe Dameron coming towards his office. Poe entered and closed the door, “Where is Zorii?“ Finn said, “she and Rose went to talk to Maz, they will then run to Canto Bight.” Poe nodded, “Okay. Is that Rey?” He asked pointing to the commlink. “Yes, and Ben,” Finn said, “he has more than just one account to get at.” Poe said, “Oh really?” Rey said, “yes, a decillion worth.” Poe would ask, “A what?” Finn looked to him with a grin, “33 zeros!” Poe would exclaim, “How does the First Order have so much kriffin’ money?” Ben said, “Taxation of all the planets.” Poe said, “Jeez.” Finn said, “We want to get the survivors of the seating senators to come forth, Ben said he would go on HoloNet News to plea with them.” Poe would ask, “Well, that’s not keeping a low profile is it?” Rey responded as Ben landed the _Falcon_ by their dwelling, “No, but as a senator, he will be guarded.” 

Poe asked, “And you? Rey, we need you to restore the New Jedi Order, Lando is landing here soon with Jannah and they’re bringing about 16 other Force-sensitives with them that they found were defecting Stormtroopers. One, in particular, hadn’t been a stormtrooper but when he saw Lando he knew it was time to come back. Rey, he’s the Jedi Knight Cal Kestis.” Rey’s eyes grew wide, “The Cal Kestis? How is he still alive?” Ben knew the name, “He was probably in hiding,” he said. Poe would confirm, “Yes, for decades. He has memorized the contents of an old Jedi Holocron he says he lifted from Bogano. He destroyed the thing to keep it from Darth Vader.” Ben flicked his eyes to Rey at the mention of his grandfather’s Sith name and then to BB-8, who had disconnected from the ship’s droid port and came rolling towards the cockpit. Ben began the shutdown sequence leaving the life support systems on and comms systems on. “That’s huge, Poe,” Rey said. Finn added, “The man is a legend, thought to be long dead.” Poe said, “I know. And he wants to speak to you, right away.” Rey said, “Of course, I will keep the comms system on, although it’s risky on this ship. This is important.” Poe and Finn both agreed. “So, how is this all going to work? Him in the Senate and you here?” Poe asked Rey. “Where he goes, I go Poe. I need you to hear me when I say this. Where he goes… I go.”

Just then Maz came and knocked on the door with Zorii and Rose in tow. “Lando is on the way here and you will not believe it,” Maz said as Poe opened the door for them. “Oh, I know, I’ve already told Rey,” Poe said to them. Maz said, “All this time, there may be more of them out there,” she looked to the commlink before continuing, “We’re headed to Canto Bight. We’ll see if I can find my contact, he’s the director of the Sonn-Blas Corporation that manufactured armor and weapons for the First Order. On our way back, we’ll stop at Tatooine; we need to form solid plans to keep both of you safe and restore democracy.” Rey countered, “And you need to get us a coded biometric script chip that Babu can use at High Port.” Maz said, “Yes… yes. That won’t take me but a minute.” Ben commented, “Aunt Maz when did you learn to code hack?” Maz smiled and answered, “I have many talents my boy, some that you never knew about because you were a youngling. I’ll need routing and account numbers if you got them, if not it may take me longer.” Ben chuckled, “Not a youngling anymore and I got all of that.” Maz said, “Perfect, we’re leaving now. We’ll come by at 20 hundred in the evening.” Rey said, “Be careful, ladies!” Finn said, “When we get Lando here, we’ll hail you guys with Cal Kestis. Traitor One, over and out.”

## Back on Tatooine

Rey turned to BB-8 and said, “Power down life support after we take all the supplies inside but leave the comms system on. We’ll take a few commlinks inside and keep them connected.” BB-8 gave them a few beeps in agreement. Ben moved to the main hold, opening the grated hatch, and jumped into the lower corridors to start emptying the _Falcon_ of the supplies that they had brought over. Rey moved towards the holochess table and unplugged two commlinks from the recharging station near it. She clipped them to her belt. Ben looked to her and said, “Tired?” Rey looked to him, “Extremely.” Ben pushed a few boxes out to the floor, “Take these inside and see if the water works enough for a shower, then go and rest. I can get what’s left of this.” Rey smiled at him, “No, I can help.” Ben jumped up from the lower corridor and gently grabbed her arm pulling her to him, “Please,” he said wrapping his arms around her waist, “I need you as rested as possible. We’ve done a lot today.” Rey sighed reaching her arms to wrap around his neck, she kissed him softly, “Okay, but just know that sleeping without you has become problematic for me.” Ben kissed the tip of her nose. “You won’t have to, ever,” he said to her. They unwrapped from each other and she picked up a few of the boxes taking them inside.

Ben continued to empty the ship for another half an hour, they had a lot to bring in. “I am going to have to fix the door we had to pry open too,” Ben said. Rey was in the kitchen testing the water, “Looks like we have power and water, or at least a bit of both. And yes, the door. And we should fix the far-field cameras, I think there are a few new ones in this box here,” she said as she dug into a box near her pulling out two newer cameras that the Resistance uses for their operations. “Okay, let me check the refreshers, see which one is best for us to use,” he said as he was putting away the seafood that Maz had packed for them. He went on to the nearest one to the kitchen, the shower was working in that one, but the toilet wasn’t yet fully functional, enough to use but there was caked up sand in the pipes. He moved over to his uncle’s room, in the master refresher there, which also had a tub. It was also operational, probably a little bit better than the one in the hall closer to his old room. One upside there was the toilet was much more functional. He turned around to exit the master refresher, he felt something in the room, and then he saw him. 

Luke Skywalker was facing the dresser and looking at the picture frame that Rey had turned upside down, “Ben.” He said as Ben froze in place and went completely silent and the pit of his stomach felt shame and guilt all over again. “Oh, don’t feel that way.” Rey felt all of Ben’s feelings and made her way to the master bedroom, where she too saw Luke’s Force Ghost. “Master Skywalker,” she said to him, “Cal Kestis is alive.” Luke looked to her, “Is that so? I wondered why we didn’t see him here.” Rey asked, leaning on the edge of the doorway, she looked to Ben and back to Luke, “Could there be more like him?” Luke said, “It wouldn’t surprise me. Maybe doing what I was doing.” Ben looked between them and landed on Luke, “Hiding?” Luke shot Ben a look, “Yes. It wasn’t safe for any of us to be out there openly after Order 66.” Rey looked to Ben and through their Force Bond she asked him, **_“Want me to go?”_** He looked to her, **_“No.”_** Luke looked between both of them, “Can you talk to each other?” Rey looked to her old Master, “Yes, we’re intrinsically connected; we actually have to work at blocking each other out.” Luke moved towards his nephew, looking at him, “You need a haircut.” Ben dared to smile, “Chewie said the same thing.” Luke smiled at him, “Well he’s right. And a Wookie is not often wrong.” Rey chuckled. “Luke,” Ben started to speak, and Luke raised his hand to stop him. “No, it’s Uncle Luke to you, young man,” he said to Ben. Ben would get choked up, but continued, “the Dark side,” he paused before continuing, “I plan on training Rey in both.” Luke looked at his nephew, moved to face him putting both hands on his shoulders, he nodded once, “My father told me. This is known as a Grey Jedi. I can’t say that I know much about the Dark Side of the Force, so I will leave that to you and your grandfather. I imagine that there is much to learn there, and I am no longer fearful of it as I was, or as your mother had been. Will you ever forgive me? I would have never…” Luke said trailing off. Ben shot him a look, “Do you forgive me?” Luke would wrap his arms around his nephew, hugging him tightly. Ben returned the hug, closing his eyes to see them release rivers of tears once again. Rey’s own face felt the wetness of her tears falling at watching this act of forgiveness. She started to walk away, returning to the kitchen to give them this moment. It will take a lot of effort from everyone to truly help Ben Solo through all that has happened to him.

Luke and Ben sat together on the bed and Luke would tell him to make this house his own, to not be afraid of who he is and what he has been through. “And Han, he loved you kid very much. You know what your father and mother had was such an inimitable love,” Luke said putting a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “they found a home in each other, not unlike you and her.” Luke pointed towards the kitchen where he could hear Rey unpacking boxes. Ben said, “Uncle Luke, back at the base, we were able to heal Zorii with the Force. Essentially doubling our power, and I wasn’t even physically there. I did that through our Force Bond. Have you ever heard of such a thing?” Luke rubbed his beard, “No, but there hasn’t been a Dyad in the Force in over 4,000 years, Ben. There is no telling how the Force can be used by the both of you, for all we know it could give you unlimited power.” Ben looked towards the kitchen where he heard the rustling of supplies being put away, “She needs rest.” Luke smiled noticing the love and concern his nephew displayed for Rey, it reminded him of Han’s love for his sister Leia. “Yes, she does. You do too,” Luke said as he stood up. “Take this,” he said moving to a drawer in his dresser digging in the bottom and taking out an old folder, “it’s the deed to this house and the 40 acres it sits on. Make this your home, kid.” He handed the folder to Ben, “For you and her.” Ben took the folder, opened it thumbing through it. 

He looked to his uncle, “A new Jedi Order, here?” Luke looked at him and sighed, “I am not sure this should be the place. I think you should keep this to yourselves and those you trust, a safe haven if you will.” Ben asked, “If not here, where?” Luke answered him, “Wherever you decide to set up the New Republic. Those two organizations have always gone hand in hand, but you need to ensure that there is no way for one person to have ultimate power like Palpatine managed to get for himself.” Ben thought about that a bit, “I had thought of Chandrila.” Luke mulled that over, “Or Coruscant. She’s a Palpatine, she may be able to lay a claim to the palace; it housed the Jedi Temple where your grandfather trained and lived,” he said. Ben responded quickly, “She wants nothing to do with that lineage.” Luke nodded a bit, “I understand that, but it is who she is. It’s what has given her the power that the both of you will uncover in each other, just like our Skywalker blood has done for you. She can’t be afraid of it.” Ben said, “I will help her as much as I can.” Luke said, “I don’t doubt that. As a matter of fact, I task you with it. Not only are you to teach her all that I taught you, but all you learned from the Dark Side of the Force, and your grandfather will guide you both, as will your mother and I. Master Yoda, Master Kenobi. We all will.” Ben asked him, “How do you become a Force Ghost like you?” Luke smiled, “On Ahch-To, it was your grandfather that came to me and showed me how. He also told me that we shouldn’t pass on that knowledge until the last few moments of life, because otherwise, it shapes your physical life in a way that could be detrimental to your growth in the Force. There are Jedi that chose not to pass through this way,” he said. “I have so many questions, uncle,” Ben stated, frankly. “I know, and we will do our best to answer what we can,” Luke said. Luke opened his arms to his nephew, “Come. I will depart for now; you go and help Rey. Then get some rest.” Ben stood up putting the folder down on the bed and hugged his uncle. He thought to himself how much love he felt from his uncle even now. When he separated from the embrace, he saw his uncle disappear back into the netherworld of the Force.

Ben took the folder and walked out to the kitchen, he put the folder on the counter, “I thought you were supposed to be resting,” he said to her. “What’s that?” she said pointing to the folder. “My uncle gave me the deed to this farm,” Ben said as he took over the box that Rey had been working through. “Oh, wow. He doesn’t approve of us rebuilding the Jedi Order here on Tatooine, huh?” She asked. He shook his head no and answered her, “No, he thinks we should keep this as our safe haven.” Ben was putting the rest of the contents of the box out on the counter where Rey had put most of the stuff she had worked through. “I didn’t know where to put any of these things,” Rey said. He smiled at her, “Luckily, I do. The master bedroom’s refresher is working a smidge better than the one in the hall.” Rey looked towards the room, “Want to move in there?” She looked back to him. Ben nodded a yes saying, “I think we can now. Sorry that we had to spend the first few nights in my old room.” Rey looked at him, “I didn’t mind at all.” She moved towards him, reaching up to peck his cheek. “I’ll get our stuff from over there and move it to the master,” Rey said as she disappeared down the hall. Just then the commlinks that were charging at the station in the kitchen started beeping. 

## There's More of Us

Ben pushed the incoming transmission button, “Falcon Wing, Traitor Two, come in… this is Traitor One.” Rey rushed back out to the kitchen, with a handful of their belongings in arms. Ben answered and connected the call, “We’re here,” he said. Finn on the other end responded, “I have Cal Kestis here to speak with you both.” Cal Kestis spoke to introduce himself, “Rey, this is Cal Kestis.” Rey felt an immediate rush of emotions, she looked to Ben. “Jedi Kestis,” Ben said in reply as he was now feeling the emotions that had gotten caught in Rey’s throat, “This is Ben Solo, give Rey a moment please.” Kestis fell silent. A few seconds would go by before Rey could speak, “It’s… it’s great to hear from you.” Cal would smile, “You’re not alone Rey. The village where Lando found a few of the former stormtroopers that had defected from the Empire was one of my villages. I have been training the few of them that were Force-sensitive as Jedi, who I’ve brought with me. I also have my wife, Merrin, our own two children, and their families with me.” Ben asked immediately, “How did you survive?” Cal would answer that he had to do the same trick his Master Cere Junda had taught him, cutting himself off from the Force. It helped to keep him, his daughter, his grandchildren, and the stormtroopers that had turned against the Empire and defected all safe from capture or identification as Force-sensitive beings. He spoke of his quest to find Master Eno Cordova’s Jedi Holocron which had contained a list of all Force-sensitive children in the known galaxy. He said he memorized the names and locations before destroying it, out of a list of 112 children, he had recovered 9 and trained them as Jedi, teaching them all to cut themselves off from the Force when needed for their own survival. Along with the stormtroopers that defected, he had trained a total of 14 Jedi Knights, he had even found another Jedi Master, Hallan Krintu. His own daughter, Ilyana Kestis, being Force-sensitive, was a Jedi Knight herself and their son Victus had two of his four children also Force-sensitive and were Padawans. His wife Merrin was the last of her kind out of the planet of Dathomir; she was a Nightsister and trained in Shadow Magic, which is part of the Dark side of the Force. His children were special as they were human-Dathomirian hybrids. His daughter inherited his Force-sensitivity, while his son did not. However, they both are trained in Shadow Magic by their mother. His two grandchildren were being trained to use their Force-wielding abilities, as both Jedi and Shadow Magic users, while the other two were being trained in Shadow Magic basic abilities. 

Rey asked him, “You know how to cut yourself off from the Force?” Cal answered her, “Yes, all of us do.” Rey followed up that answer with another question, “Could you teach Ben and me how to do that?” Cal would go on to tell her, “Yes, I could, but there is something different about you; even through this commlink I feel it.” Ben looked to Rey, who was looking at him. He nodded to her. Rey responded, “Ben and I are a Dyad in the Force, do you know what that is?” Cal and Merrin would look to each other back on Crait. Finn would immediately notice, “What? Have you heard of it?” Cal would answer, “Yes,” he said and then turned to Merrin, “the study in _Rebirth_ , the old text.” Merrin said to him, “On it.” The air filled with a green mist and POOF, Merrin disappeared. Finn would take a step back, “What the devil?” He exclaimed. “You’ll get used to it,” Cal said turning his attention back to the commlink, “just Merrin being Merrin.” Finn asked, “What’s with the green mist? Did I imagine that?” Cal answered, “It’s the fount of her power, ichor,” he turned back to the commlink in hand, “Sorry, she teleported… caused a ruckus over here. But yes, we have an old Jedi text that describes a Darth Revan and a Jedi Knight Bastila Shan, they called themselves a Force Dyad.” Ben immediately asked him, “Where is it?” Just then another green mist appeared, “Okay I am not going to get used to that,” Finn exclaimed as Merrin manifested again in the same spot she disappeared from. She handed her husband the old text, “Here, and it is towards the end,” she said with her unique Dathomirian accent helping Cal flip through the pages. “Here,” he landed on a page, “Revan was a Darth Lord of the Sith and immensely powerful. Born in 3994 BBY, he was trained as a Jedi from very young, eventually becoming a Jedi Knight. It says here that he discovered the hidden Sith Empire, falling to the Dark Side of the Force under the Sith Emperor Vitiate. Betrayed by another Darth Lord, Malak, he nearly died but the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan healed him and took him to the Jedi Council, who used a power called Force Wipe to pull him back to the Light Side of the Force, the two had formed a Dyad in the Force; a Sith and a Jedi, as the Force seeks balance. They had a child together, Vaner Shan, who did not possess his parents' Force-powers but gave birth to Force-sensitive children. Their lineage would go on to produce many Jedi throughout the centuries.” Ben asked, “Does it speak to any Force powers?” Cal said, “Other than Force Wipe, it mentions Battle Meditation,” he flipped through the pages, “Force Valor, which most of us have, Thought Shield, also common,” Cal kept skimming, “there is a lot of them here, here is a unique one I’ve not really heard of before, called Force Amplify? Ring a bell to either of you?” Rey and Ben looked at each other, both answering, “No.” Cal continued to read, “it states that Revan and Bastila could join their minds together through the Force, drawing strength from each other. Force Sight, another rare Power they shared that enhances sight… capable of seeing through walls, convenient.” Rey asked, “We need that book. Would you part with it if only temporarily?” Cal answered, “Yes, surely. If that’s what you two are, this is monumental.” Merrin would add, “We could come to you, yes?” Ben answered for them both, “Yes. The Resistance has our location.” Finn would chime in, “When we go meet with you tomorrow, we can bring them.” Cal said, “We have our Order with us as I said. We have our own MC95E Star Cruiser, _Rebirth_ ; we’ve had to learn to live in the stars to keep our family and Order members safe. There is much we need to talk about.” Ben said, “Yes, there is.” Rey laid her head on Ben’s shoulder, she was exhausted. Ben continued, “Finn, you’ll come here as well?” Finn answers, “For sure. Can’t very well send Poe to you, now can I?” Finn turned to Cal, “The ship you just mentioned is too big to land anywhere here; we’re flooded with refugees.” Cal said, “We noticed, but we landed here on our Upsilon command shuttle, _Grand Command,_ which we can use to visit Rey and Ben tomorrow. We’ll stay in orbit here at Crait with _Rebirth_.” He looked to his wife and she nodded in agreement. Finn said, “Okay Rey… Ben… rest. We’ll see you tomorrow. Traitor One, over and out.” Finn closed the connection and Rey yawned.

Ben knew she was very tired, and it was past midnight now. He clicked the commlink, “BB-8 shut down the comms system, go to standby power.” BB-8 beeped back in acknowledgment. Ben clipped the commlink to the charging station and looked to Rey, “Come let’s go in the master. We’ll worry about all of this tomorrow; did we get the seafood in the cooling unit?” Rey yawned again and said, “Yes, got that all put away.” Ben nodded, he moved towards her. In one swift motion, he picked her up in a bridal carry position, “Ahhh!” Rey said in surprise. “Now, we rest,” Ben said to her looking at her eyes. Rey wrapping her arms around his neck, “Yes, sir.” The two of them went on to sleep together in each other’s arms in Luke’s old master bedroom, getting the rest they sorely needed to pull off what was sure to be the heist of the known galaxy.

## Under Surveillance

Bazine Netal made it to the waypoint she had been instructed to go, it was well after 1 AM and there was hardly anyone in the location she had been sent to. The Gamor System had several interesting locations, of course, the planet of Gamor that was mostly covered in oceans with only one major continent of land. Gamor’s capital city, Hanover, was an ecumenopolis that had six-ship docks with pay-per-use garaging capabilities for even star cruisers if they needed to land for any reason. It also has 3 major space stations and fueling depots that orbit for the city ships that stop along the Corellian and Gamor Runs, respectively. Hanover was completely encased in tall glass structures to protect the city from the wild oceans that plague it due to heavy magnetic fields in the planet’s core causing high tides. It has a 30-mile trade sector, and the Corellian Engineering Corporation (CEC) has several of its business offices here for their ship designers, architects, and engineers. One of the planet’s ship docks happened to be next to its most famous cantina, the Sly Fox. It was clear that this planet was under the thumb of the First Order, even now. As soon as she landed the _Greed_ she saw First Order officers and the stormtroopers guarding them all over the place, if there was a safe haven for the remnants that had not been present at the Battle of Exegol, Gamor would be such a place.

As Bazine entered the Sly Fox, she saw Mirta Gev was sitting in a corner booth all by herself in her full Mandalorian armor, so she moved towards that table. She was stopped by two bodyguards, Mirta raised her hand to wave her through. “You’re early,” Bazine said. “I’ve been waiting for 3 hours,” Mirta said to her as she sat down. “Got my deposit?” Mirta asked. Bazine nodded and pushed over a data chip. Mirta extended a hand to grab it and she slid it into the data port on the right side of her helmet. The images that flashed across her visor now depicted a base, riddled with the insignia of the Resistance. And then the images of a couple by a self-made fire, caught in the midst of a private moment. She sees the target. Her eyes widen, “That’s Kylo Ren, when was this taken?” Bazine’s mouth gaped open, “What? No, no, the woman… that’s the Jedi Rey. Are you telling me that’s Kylo Ren, the Supreme Leader of the First Order? That’s impossible, this was taken several hours ago, today!” Mirta would reply, “Oh this is big. Like really big! They are together? Like that?” Bazine said, “I saw them with my own eyes, they were certainly close, as you can tell. I had no idea who the male suitor was.” Mirta leaned into a whisper, “We can’t tell anyone about this. And we’re going to have to get more than just a bunch of images. We need audio, we need video, biometrics if possible, so we can positively identify them. We cannot kill them; they’ll want them alive. Get back out there, we need more.” Bazine nodded and thought to herself that if Kylo Ren was with the Jedi, at a Resistance base, that he must have defected. “Roger will do.” Mirta passed her a direct private commlink connected to her own system, “Use this to communicate, 24 hours. In the meantime, I’ll go rustle some feathers around to see what bounties may be on the girl,” she said. Bazine grabbed the private commlink and stuffed it in her bra, where no one would ever dare.

Bazine received a credit transfer from Mirta; 300,000 credits. She would head to the trade sector where she could easily spend all of it, and some of her own credits. She would need adaptive cameras that were capable of both photography and videography as well as heat sensors. They’d have to be solar-powered of course and have long-range transmission capabilities. She enjoyed shopping for all the highest technologically advanced tools of the trade and First Order worlds always had the latest and greatest. She stopped in at one of the most famous metalsmiths in the galaxy, a Sith smith trained in alchemical soldering and smoldering. He was hard to find as he had served the Knights of Ren on board their ship the _Night Buzzard_. But given that the Knights had met their untimely deaths on Exegol, he was available in his old shop that made little to no attempts to hide the fact he was affiliated with the Sith. A rare surprise, the two old friends got along fabulously and Bazine was happy to see him, especially when he had newly fashioned katanas made from a combination of Beskar interlaced with Sarrassian iron. It fancied a price of 750,000 credits: a drop in a bucket for a successful bounty hunter and mercenary like Bazine Netal. After her purchase, she picked up all the necessary tools to start beefing up her surveillance of the planet Crait and the Jedi and Supreme Leader.

She Bazine took off and headed for her apartment in her homeworld, Chaaktil. Gamor wasn’t too far from it if she hopped on the Gamor Run and crossed into Harrin Trade Corridor to get to the Inner Rim planets. Chaaktil's biggest city was Chaako City, which is where the orphanage Bazine was raised was located. She considered this her home turf. She kept an apartment that she had bought many years ago there where she could have some resemblance of a normal life. The hideout on Rishi was where she conducted business, however, she did keep a vault in Chaako City that allowed her access to the same systems she kept in all her hideouts; Rishi was one of four scattered across the galaxy.

After about 40 minutes, she crossed into the atmosphere of Chaaktil, making her way over to the main city. She parked the Greed into her private garage, taking the elevator to the 118th floor where her apartment was. She continued to study her targets and eventually turned in for the night. She would head back out to Rishi in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AUTHOR:** Maria Espino
> 
>  **ABOUT AUTHOR:**  
>  Maria, better known as "Danitsia", runs a huge video gaming organization called The Last Prophecy Gaming, Inc. with over 4000+ members across the world. She started this organization with her late husband Lucas, whom she spent 22 years with before he was accidentally killed in a car accident in 2011. This community is largely responsible for contributions to various games (writing for, composing for, videography for, graphical effects for, programming and coding for, developing for, and producing for) across all genres but mostly in the Massive Online Role Playing Game genre. Many members are employed by some of the world's best-known video gaming companies in the world; Electronic Arts, Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Sony Playstation, Microsoft XBOX Games, and many more. 
> 
> Her hobbies include video gaming, writing, technology, artificial intelligence, creative arts, and more. She currently lives in Phoenix, AZ with her new husband Jake and their 3 cats. She has been a long-time fan of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, and absolutely anything by the greatest vampiric author of all time, Anne Rice. 
> 
> To learn more about The Last Prophecy Gaming, Inc. visit us at [www.TLP-guild.com](https://www.TLP-guild.com). To learn more about me, be sure to visit me at my personal blog where I keep a copy of this story as well as other things about me, <https://mariaespino.com/star-wars-episode-x-the-chosen-one/>.


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